With huge volumes of furniture being sold this holiday season, how do we know we’re not buying conflict or illegal timbers, and how can we support transformational change in timber trading?
Cleaning up global timber supply chains is no easy task. However, it can be done and a new report, Policy Forum: Opportunities and Challenges for Vietnamese Companies to Source Sustainable Timber from Africa, and Implications for Future Implementation of the EU Deforestation Regulation, highlights several important observations made by researchers on practical ways to reduce the chance of trading illegal timber products:
- Market demand for legally traded timber as well as increasing compliance and legal document requirements have had a significant impact on how companies rethink and strategize different pathways to strengthen their supply chain to preference more secure and legal source.
- Companies are trying different pathways to reduce the potential of handling illegally sourced timber, including: diversifying supplier lists with more stable sources; and scaling down imported timbers from Africa over the last 10 years, with the majority of surveyed companies planning not to continue trading with African suppliers due to high risk.
- Due to problems with obtaining accurate numbers on timber production and trade in Africa, additional steps are regularly taken when using African suppliers, including, demanding legally verified timber (52 %), stable and reliable supply (35 %) and competitive price (17 %) to vet products.
Certainly, “the positive early impact of market pressure and government regulation on legally traded timber in Vietnam marks a significant step towards sustainable forest management,” according to the global study led by Thu Thuy Pham – from Flinders University and Andrew Lowe – from the University of Adelaide, who with Thi Kim Hong Tang – from the Nong Lam University of Ho Chi Minh City, published the study in the Forest Policy and Economics journal last week.
“This development reflects how businesses can adapt to global sustainability trends and legal requirements,” the researchers revealed to Wood Central overnight. “However, it is essential for the government, public, and private sectors to continue to acknowledge these efforts and provide ongoing support so that these positive changes can be scaled and sustained for the long term.”
To continue progress towards truly sustainable timber supply chains, they argue that more support is required to help timber supply companies validate the timber source when countries (both from the supply and demand sides) are still refining, developing, and strengthening their legal framework.
“The introduction of new scientific methods and international collaboration between Africa and Vietnam, as well as support from international scientists, can help both countries and companies,” they said. “Whilst, at the same time, further support from the government to companies, including capacity building, information exchange, and further guidance, is required to help companies comply with new policies.”
In July, Wood Central revealed that more than half of Europe’s total imports of timber furniture (representing more than 1 billion tonnes of merchandise) were at risk under the European Union’s EUDR – with furniture emerging as the Achilles heel for European, North American and Asia-Pacific policymakers looking to clamp down on illegal logging.
Wood Central would like to thank Thu Thuy Pham – from Flinders University, Andrew Lowe – from the University of Adelaide, and Thi Kim Hong Tang – from the Nong Lam University of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, for input to this article.
- To learn more about the challenges faced by Vietnamese furniture providers ahead of the roll-out of EUDR, click here for Wood Central’s special feature.
