Illegal Deforestation in your Supply Chain
The UK government has identified leather, rubber, wood and paper derivatives as commodities associated with deforestation and intends to include them in proposed legislation designed to reduce deforestation linked to products sold in the UK.
Currently the Government proposal is to introduce legislation that would:
- Make it illegal for businesses in scope to use, either in production or trade within the UK, forest risk commodities that have not been produced in accordance with relevant laws in the country where they are grown. 'Forest risk commodities' include those embedded within products. 'Relevant laws' include those that protect natural forests and other natural ecosystems from being converted in to agricultural land.
- Oblige businesses in scope to conduct due diligence to ensure that forest risk commodities that have not been legally produced do not enter their supply chain, and to report on this exercise publicly.
- Enable the Government to levy fines and other civil sanctions against businesses that continue to use forest risk commodities that have not been produced legally and/or that do not have a robust system of due diligence in place.
- Require that the Government regularly review the law's effectiveness.
Only larger businesses over a turnover and employee number threshold would be in scope of the law - small businesses would not be in scope. The threshold for inclusion will defined in subsequent secondary legislation.
This approach is designed to reinforce the existing efforts of producer countries to enforce their laws, so contributing to the sustainability of all the produce they grow, not just that exported to the UK.
The best way to establish an effective and achievable policy around illegal deforestation – against which you can measure and report your progress – is to understand your supply chain. If you are not sure of your supply chain, you may not know the extent of your risk and you may be unable to drive change in your operations.
If you do not know your leather, wood or rubber supply chain, we can help to identify and map your suppliers. Through our supply chain mapping tool, Eurofins | BLC can help you to understand your supply chain, quantify the illegal deforestation risk so you are confident that you have supply chain transparency and due diligence on illegal deforestation.
For more information about the Eurofins | BLC Leather Sustainability Supply Chain Mapping Service, simply email [email protected] and one of our consultants will contact you.
16 September 2020