From 1 April 2009, only timber and products derived from timber that originate either from independently verified legal and sustainable sources or from a licensed Forest Law Enforcement, Governance & Trade (FLEGT) partner will be demanded for use on UK Government property.

Suppliers will be required to produce appropriate documentation to prove the legal and sustainable or FLEGT-licensed source of the products. From 1 April 2015, only legal and sustainable timber will be demanded.

The change will initially apply to England, Great Britain and UK departments and their executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies. It is expected that the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will follow suit in the near future.  Other public bodies, including local authorities, will be encouraged to follow the national Government’s lead.

The Government’s policy on timber procurement is designed to combat illegal and unsustainable logging. It is a key element in the effort to help reduce and mitigate climate change by tackling deforestation, which is a threat to societies and the environment around the world.

The UK is a major importer of timber, and the UK Government is at the forefront of co-ordinated international initiatives to encourage legal and sustainable management of the world’s forests. However, the policy change will apply to all timber, whether imported or domestically produced. This will help to reduce the opportunities for sellers of illegal and unsustainable timber to undercut responsible traders who already deal only in legal and sustainable products.

In practice Government buyers will be required to request evidence from contractors and suppliers that the wood products they propose to supply comply with the policy requirements for legality and sustainability. The evidence must indicate that both the source of the product (the forest) is known, and that the management of that forest is demonstrably legal and sustainable. This evidence can take two forms:

• Category A evidence is independent certification of the timber and timber products by any of the forest certification schemes that meet the policy requirements, such as those endorsed by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes (PEFC)
• Category B evidence includes alternative documentary evidence that the source forest is known and that it is legally and sustainably managed.

Defra, the Government department with lead responsibility for sustainable timber procurement, has established the Central Point of Expertise on Timber (CPET) to provide training and a free support helpline to public-sector buying agencies and their timber suppliers.

This service provides detailed advice on the procurement policy itself, and offers help in assessing evidence of compliance under Category A and B.