How to assess the French Public Procurement Policy on Timber and Wood Products ? Illegal logging Update and Stakeholder Consultation RIIA Chatham House London July th 2006 Caroline MERLE Véronique JOUCLA Department of Forest and Timber

Headlines I.Background: the French PPP on timber products II.How to insure traceability? III.How to measure impacts? IV.Conclusion - Future options

I. The French PPP on timber products  Public procurement  1/4 French consumption of tropical timber  France is amongst the top countries in the E.U for importing tropical timber (mainly from Africa)  April 7 th 2004 : Governmental Action Plan in favour of tropical forests :  Project of a PM ’ s advice note ( « circulaire » ) to public buyers : Objectives : 50 % in 2007 and 100 % in 2010 of timber and wood products purchased by public buyers should come from legal sources & sustainably managed forests.  April 5 th 2005 : approval of the advice note by the PM (published April 8 th 2005 in the Official journal)

I. The French PPP on timber products Legal scope :  mandatory for State buyers  recommended to local authorities  no distinctions are made between tropical and non tropical products  2 categories of products, related to 2 types of uses (building and equipment: furniture, paper … )

I. The French PPP on timber products Step by step approach :  starting point = 0 (no previous regulation)  Reference to existing tools : sustainable forest management schemes, eco-labels on wood products integrating sustainable forest management criteria, legality certificates verified by independent and reliable bodies

I. The French PPP on timber products Elements needed to assess the PPP 1.Insure traceability of « verified » timber products 2.Gather data on public purchases of timber products

II. How to insure traceability Traceability:  Assumed for SFM certified wood  May not exist for other legality / sustainability evidences  option 1: rely on private CoC and assess the legality / sustainability at the end of the chain (purchaser responsibility)  option 2 : make use of existing custom documents to qualify legal / sustainable products when entering the EU/MS market

II. How to insure traceability Traceability - Validation of legality / sustainability: possible role of public / private actors Public purchase EU border C o C Tender Compliance with the PPP certificates ? Customs UAD ? EGD ?

II. How to insure traceability Difficulties:  option 1: expertise at tender and purchaser level  option 2 :  UAD : Unique administrative document (entering EU market) or EGD (within EU market) would need to be modified  review of EU legal provisions on customs  Custom officers would need expertise on proofs of legality / sustainibility  EGD only for exchanges > €/ year  Require to check all the entering wood even if it won’t be use in public market  Introduce distortion between national and imported timber products

III. Data on public purchases  In France, data are systematically registered only for markets > €  Even these data are not easily available in a workable format  It ’ s difficult to identify which contracts may include timber (e.g. contract aims to build a bridge, a school … )  The French PPP does not require from the public institutions to elaborate annual planning of their timber purchases, nor to report on these purchases  only possibility at the moment : sampling

III. Data on public purchases 1.No official decision at time being (study phase) 2.Sampling might be the easiest way to have quick indicative results 3.Regarding permanent / long term monitoring of the PPP impacts and facilitation of its implementation, may be an interesting option to create a national reference centre. This centre could integrate the national structure following public markets.

III. Data on public purchases The national reference centre could act at different stages: As a technical adviser to formulate the calls for proposals As an official approval body to evaluate the proofs of legality / sustainability provided by the tenders (on the basis of the technical annex). As a data centre: it could register the opinion expressed on the proposals and cross it with the results of the calls

These are ideas to discuss ! Thank you for your attention Véronique JOUCLA Technical adviser on sustainable development Caroline MERLE Technical adviser on International and EU forest affairs Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries Directory General of Forest and Rural affairs Sub-directory of Forest and Timber Paris - FRANCE agriculture.gouv.fr agriculture.gouv.fr