US hardwood industry demonstrates legal and sustainable credentials

In response to the increasing global demand for verified legal and sustainable forest products, the American hardwood industry has released the findings of its independent study “Assessment of Lawful Harvesting and Sustainability of U.S Hardwood Exports”.

The study commissioned by the American Hardwood Export Council and undertaken by a team of international experts, led by Seneca Creek Associates, confirms that US hardwoods derive from legal and well managed forests. The research concludes that:

• There is a very low risk that US hardwoods derive from illegal sources.
• There is high confidence that hardwoods procured from the US are low risk in all categories of the FSC controlled wood standard.
• National and State forest programmes in the U.S. are responsive in promoting and ensuring sustainable forest practices.

The groundbreaking study is the first of its kind to look at legality on a national basis and will prove a valuable tool for compliance to a range of sustainable procurement policies, including FSC controlled wood. This should greatly facilitate the supply of FSC labeled products containing American hardwoods using FSC’s percentage and volume credit systems. The study also provides a series of recommendations for the American hardwood industry, designed to enhance the level of transparency and environmental credentials of its products.

Already the AHEC board has responded to these recommendations by preparing a Responsible Procurement Policy for Exporters (RPP). This policy may be voluntarily adopted by AHEC members wishing to communicate their commitment to specific environmental objectives and to progressively increasing the proportion of American hardwoods that can be tracked to forest of origin.

Preliminary indications are that the AHEC-funded risk assessment study combined with the new AHEC RPP will be accepted as meeting Japan’s demand for legally-sourced wood products.

AHEC also believe the legality study and RPP will play an important role in Europe. According to AHEC’s European Director, David Venables “while these initiatives on their own will not satisfy the public procurement policies for sustainability of some EU members, for the bulk of the European market we believe the study and RPP together will underline the low risk nature of US hardwoods and reassure the wood chain as to their sustainable credentials”

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