Andy Roby, the TTF‘s head of environment and corporate social responsibility, said several federation members had already volunteered to support the initiative – and that more would be welcome.
TTF members met Kate Bottriell and Neil Judd, consultants at ProForest which operates the CPET scheme for Defra, to get up to speed on government timber procurement advice for uncertified timber supplies, said Mr Roby.
“Guidance on this so-called “Category B” evidence has been on CPET’s website since August this year and is now being incorporated in government contracts.
“With the recent high profile NGO activity and the increased capacity promised by new Defra minister Barry Gardiner, CPET is planning a more proactive campaign monitoring government purchasing and promoting CPET guidance in the timber market,” he added.
The good news, according to Mr Roby, is that guidance is being developed that will take into account forest source areas where illegal logging is not significant, which will likely mean less documentation needs to be collected for those areas.
“The TTF Responsible Purchasing Policy represents a potentially viable mechanism to collect and store legality evidence for both high and low risk countries, ready for the buyer should he or she require it.”
He said any TTF members interested in supporting the initiative should contact him at ajroby@ttf.co.uk.
