Early impact of Lacey Act
The landmark US Lacey Act, adopted last year in its current form, has already shown that it is capable of transforming the approach of companies to make sure of the legality of traded wood products.
Companies are now in the process of learning to ask just he right questions when buying wood - a prerequisite for avoiding illegal products.
A paper produced by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) on behalf of the Lacey Coalition, lists clear signs of positive movement on the marketplace since the adoption of the revised Lacey Act last year.
Working with suppliers
The paper highlights the flush of activity resulting from the endorsement of this act and the positive commitment from the industry. International seminars and events have been organized by various organisations to spread the message and clarify the requirements.
One example of a company that works seriously to comply with the Lacey Act is the world’s biggest retailer, Walmart, which is conducting trainings with buyers and suppliers and implementing procedures related to Lacey declarations requirements.
Using legality verification
Also, a project is demonstrating the feasibility of using legality verification systems to set up robust supply chains for sourcing legal wood that ends up in the US marketplace. In the framework of a project implemented by the Tropical Forest Trust, forests and producers of wood products in Indonesia have recently undergone Verification of Legal Origin (VLO) by the Rainforest Alliance’s SmartWood program.
Plans are that VLO verified furniture originating in an Indonesian community managed forest and a State Forest District will ultimately be available in Crate & Barrel’s retail outlets in the USA. The project is funded by USAID through The Nature Conservancy’s RAFT program, and may inspire others to use a similar approach.
The paper also highlights the impact that the amended Lacey Act is probably having on policy development elsewhere in the world.
Source: www.illegal-logging.info
