The UK government’s policy on purchasing timber and wood-derived products remains as announced in 2000: that central government is to actively seek to buy legal and sustainable timber. Since then, much work has been done on elaborating what this means in practice for government procurement, as well as those that supply to government.
For example, in August 2005 the government launched the Central Point of Expertise on Timber Procurement (CPET), an information and advice service to back up its policy commitments. The service is operated by ProForest, an independent company with wide experience in responsible purchasing.
CPET serves as a point of contact for government personnel, suppliers, contractors and sub-contractors. It is designed to offer practical information on how to meet the policy, both from the perspective of procurement personnel issuing contracts and assessing tenders, and from the perspective of suppliers supplying timber, including evidence of the legality and sustainability of the source.
Range of enquiries
The service has been handling a growing number of enquiries ranging from basic questions regarding policy details, to discussing the origin of a source of tropical timber and evaluating whether the evidence presented meets the requirements for legality and sustainability. Bird hides, park benches and footbridges are just a few of the structures that CPET has been asked to advise on, as well as paper, office furniture and construction timber. Advice has also been given to government departments revising their procurement policy, and to local authorities interested in adopting a similar policy.
In addition to the helpline (01865 243766), CPET has maintained a website (www.proforest.net/cpet) since last November and operates training workshops for government procurement personnel and their contractors and suppliers. The first round of regional training workshops was held in Bristol, Edinburgh, London and Leeds. They catered to a wide audience, ranging from local councils to government departments to contractors and suppliers. Targeted workshops are planned within several departments and, from this month, monthly workshops will be held in Oxford. Eligible users can find further details and download a registration form from the CPET website.
CPET will also start monitoring how well the policy is being implemented in practice. This will involve assessing a range of government contracts to check that the requirements are compliant with the UK government’s timber procurement policy. In addition, where contracts are under way, compliance with contract conditions will also be checked in a sample of suppliers.
Technical aspects
Though the focus is now on the upfront services offered, work continues on the more technical aspects of the policy. Currently CPET is conducting an assessment of PEFC national schemes to determine whether changes that were committed to last year have been implemented in practice. The results are expected at the end of this month. This will soon be followed by the annual review of all forest certification schemes that have been found to meet the criteria for sustainability and/or legality. Results will be posted on the CPET website and widely disseminated.
Additionally, the development of a framework for evaluating Category B evidence (evidence other than certification under a scheme currently approved by the UK government) is in progress, and the CPET helpline can already provide assistance in evaluating such evidence.
Stakeholder involvement is ongoing, both as a result of comments from users of the service and through the more formalised CPET Reference Board, which includes representatives from the public and private sectors as well as from NGOs.
CPET’s role was recently highlighted in the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee Report (ttjonline January 20), where it was noted that “CPET’s work has the potential, as has already proved to be the case, to have significant impact on timber procurement and timber production worldwide”. The report offered a number of constructive suggestions for future projects.
