Responsibility
The company recognises its responsibility to the environment, the company's customers, suppliers and staff. The company is to base its commercial activities on well-managed Forests.
Legality
The company is committed to identify the source of all wood used as an input to its 'volume credit account' or in the manufacturer of its FSC/PEFC labelled products and to taking all reasonable measures to ensure that material as listed below shall not be purchased by the company.
a) Timber that has been illegally harvested (controversial sources)
b) Timber from genetically modified trees
c) Timber from areas where traditional or civil rights are violated
d) Timber from uncertified high conservation value forests or from endangered forests
e) Timber from forests converted to plantations or other uses
To this end all suppliers of non-FSC/PEFC certified timber will be required fill in a 'Timber Source Questionnaire' to accurately identify the forest of origin and using this information we will make available to concerned parties a list of all the countries from which we source our certified wood.
Supplier Monitoring
The company will regularly obtain from suppliers:
a) information relating to their environmental practices
b) clearest practicable information regarding sources of raw material used in the manufacture of the wood products
The information received will form part of purchasing decisions and will be made available on request to interested parties.
Timber Certification
This company recognises that the independent certification of forests and the process chain is the most useful tool in providing assurances that the timber comes from legal and well managed forests. The company will only accept or use labels or certificates which include environmental or sustainability claims if these are supported by publicly available standards drawn up in a fully participatory transparent and objective manner and backed by independent inspection.
Avoid Misleading Claims
The company will avoid misleading and unsubstantiated environmental claims in relation to wood product supplies.
Management Structure
The company has appointed a Director responsible for the implementation of this policy and will ensure that environmental issues relevant to the policy are discussed regularly at the highest level of management. The company will ensure that all employees associated with timber purchasing are encouraged to act in accordance with this policy and are given appropriate education and training to do so if required.
Continuous Improvement
The company will define its own performance in accordance with this policy.