Timber procurement policy now includes social criteria

The Government Timber Procurement Advice Note has now been updated to include social criteria.

Since the announcement of the inclusion of social criteria by Hilary Benn at January 2010 Chatham house Illegal logging conference, Defra and CPET have been working to ensure that the inclusion of social criteria in the application of the UK Government timber procurement policy is effective and practical. There were a number of challenges, not least due to the fact that current interpretation of EU procurement rules means that these do not accommodate for social criteria to be part of the specification, but can only be included in the contract performance clauses.

The main focus has been to update the Government’s timber procurement advice note (TPAN).  The updated version (April 2010) includes a revised model specification text and model contract clauses (annex B and C).

Please download the updated TPAN here and forward to all relevant colleagues and contacts.

Updating the TPAN also meant that the UK Government’s Legality and Sustainability definition document  needed revising. It is crucial that the definition referred to in the model specification text,  be clear in stating that social criteria cannot be a part of the specification and should not be listed as another criterion. However, it was felt that social criteria should be included to ensure compliance during the management of a contract through contract performance clauses.  The Government’s updated Legality and Sustainability definition is available for download here. 

The Timber procurement advice note (TPAN) has been updated and is readily available for you to use, and it still also includes the model texts.  Please take the time to familiarise yourself with these amendments and also ro refer to the Legality and Sustainability definition document.

Please do not hesitate to contact CPET for support and guidance.

What will the inclusion of the social criteria mean in practice for buyers, suppliers and contractors?

The answer is not much. The vast majority of timber and wood products bought and supplied in the UK originate from certified sources (Category A evidence or Category B evidence cases of broken chain of custody). CPET will over the coming months review the certification schemes FSC and PEFC to ensure that they continue to ensure compliance with the UK government timber procurement policy now with the inclusion of new criteria. Only in the rare cases where the forest source is not certified will more work to show compliance with the social criteria be needed, but even so, in most cases legislation will ensure that criteria have already been met.

CPET will, over the coming weeks, amend the Category A and Category B evidence guidance to include social criteria and the new criteria on ‘conversion’ and ‘governance’.