Goho(=Legal) Wood NAVI

New Government Procurement Policy of Japan for Global Sustainable Forest Management
- Introductory explanation for wood and wood products company overseas -

Summary

○　Wood and Wood Products for government procurement needs to be confirmed to have ‘legality’ of harvesting on the timber of which they are composed, and ‘sustainability’ of the management level of the forest from which they originated are favorably taken into account.

○　In this policy, 'legality' is positioned as 'Evaluation Criteria' and 'sustainability' as 'Factors for Consideration'.

Objective items - five categories

○　Paper (Printing Paper, etc.)
○ Stationary (Business envelopes, Notebooks, etc.)
○　Office Furniture (Chairs, Desks, Shelves, etc.)
○ Interior Fixtures and Beddings (Bed frames)
○　Public-Works projects (Lumber, Glued laminated timber, Plywood, Laminated veneer lumber, etc.)

Types of documents maybe requested

○　Primarily, contractor of government procurement is responsible for the verification on the legality and sustainability of wood and wood products.
○　So underlying documents for this verification may be requested to company overseas by Japan side such as wood importing company.
○　Documents accountable for legality and sustainability at exporting stage would vary as legal system and commercial customs of each country differ, and examples of them are as follows.
ⅰ. Forest Certification (SGEC, FSC, SFI, CSA, PEFC, etc.)
ⅱ. Official documents issued by authorities concerned or industry associations (permission on harvesting, exporting, etc.)
ⅲ. Other documents with the same level of reliability asⅰorⅱ.

Date of Enforcement

○　1 April 2006 in effect.
"Basic Policy" of "Law on Promoting Purchasing Eco-friendly Goods and Services (Green Purchasing Law)" was amended by cabinet decision. ○　Verification on legality of timber of which contract on harvesting were concluded before 1 April 2006 could be substituted for the description on the fact as interim measure.

Assessment and review in the future

○　This policy is the first step which intends to secure minimum level of legality and sustainability, and necessary amendment will be added as occasion demands.

Leaflet! "Goho-wood" Japan's measures against illegal logging