Technical Glossary
Audit – systematic, independent, documented process for obtaining records, statements of fact and other relevant information and assessing them objectively to determine the extent to which applicable requirements are fulfilled[1].
Australian Illegal Logging Prohibition Act - Legislation that aims to combat trade in illegally logged timber products in Australia. This legislation only places requirements on Australian businesses, and establishes equal treatment for suppliers of timber, regardless of nationality.[2] Came into effect 2012.
Centralised National Risk Assessment (CNRA) - The Centralised National Risk Assessment (CNRA) is an FSC risk assessment used when sourcing FSC Controlled Wood (CW). The primary objective is to identify low risk areas for timber for each of the five CW categories in priority countries (see Controlled Wood). The CNRA is applicable if an NRA under the FSC CW scheme has not been approved.
Certification – the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements.[3] Forest certification is a mechanism for forest monitoring, tracing and labeling timber, wood and pulp products and non-timber forest products, where the quality of forest management is judged against a series of agreed standards.[4]
Certification Body (CB) - Third party organisation that performs conformance assessments to the requirements of a Standard.
Chain of Custody (CoC) – the path taken by materials or products from the forest to the consumer, including each stage of processing, transformation, manufacturing, storage and transport where progress to the next stage of the supply chain involves a change of ownership of the materials or product.
CITES – Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. The endangered species covered by CITES are listed in three Appendices, according to the degree of protection they need[5].
CITES permit - Document confirming that the product traded follows the requirements stipulated under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).[6]
NEPCon Sourcing Hub – An online platform providing information on potential risks of legal violations and negative social and environmental impacts for commodities affecting forests.
Competent Authority (CA) - The body within each EU Member State responsible for the application of the EU Timber Regulation in their own jurisdiction.[7]
Consignment – the act or process of sending goods to a person or place to be sold.[8]
Control Measure - An action that an organisation can take in order to mitigate the risk of sourcing material from unacceptable sources.
Controlled Wood (CW) – input material supplied without an FSC claim, which has been assessed to be in conformity with FSC Controlled Wood requirements and can be included in the production of FSC Mix products.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) – A management concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and interactions with stakeholders.[9]
Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) - A global index of the perceived level of corruption in individual countries. The index has been developed by Transparency International. A country or territory’s score indicates the perceived level of public sector corruption on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).
Country of origin – Country where the raw material was grown.
Due care – The appropriate or proper care/caution/diligence under the circumstances.[10] Term used under the U.S. Lacey Act.
Due Diligence (DD) - In the context of the European Timber Regulation, due diligence is considered to define the actions taken by organisations to reduce the risk of sourcing illegally harvested wood and wood-based material. A general definition of the term is “the care that a reasonable person exercises to avoid harm to other persons or their property”.[11]
Due Diligence System (DDS) - A set of steps or actions taken to ensure that due diligence is exercised. The due diligence system may consist of written guidelines and procedures that describe the due diligence process in detail.
European Timber Regulation (EUTR) - Regulation (EU) No 995/2010, which lays down the obligations of operators who place timber and timber products on the market to counter the trade in illegally harvested timber and timber products.[12]
Export ban – A ban on export. The ban can be restricted to a selected product or raw material.
Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) – the FLEGT Action Plan of the EU was established in 2003. It aims to reduce illegal logging by strengthening sustainable and legal forest management, improving governance and promoting trade in legally produced timber.[13]
FLEGT licence - A FLEGT licence guarantees that timber from a Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) country has been harvested, processed and exported in accordance with national laws.[14]
FLEGT licensing scheme - The issuing of licences for timber and timber products destined for export to the European Union from a VPA partner country, and its implementation in the European Union following provisions on border controls.[15]
FLEGT shipment – A shipment of material covered by a FLEGT licence. A FLEGT licence can cover only one shipment, but a shipment can cover multiple containers[16].
Forest Management Enterprise (FME) - An organisation or other single legal entity engaged in forest management. The forest management enterprise may be responsible for forest management over one or more forest management units.[17]
Forest Management Plan (FMP) - The collection of documents, reports, records and maps that describe, justify and regulate the activities carried out by any manager, staff or organisation within or in relation to the Forest Management Unit, including statements of objectives and policies.
Forest Management Unit (FMU) - A clearly defined forest area with mapped boundaries, managed by a single managerial body, to a set of explicit objectives that are expressed in a self-contained multi-year management plan.[18]
Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) - A legal condition whereby a person or community can be said to have given consent to an action prior to its commencement, based upon a clear appreciation and understanding of the facts, implications and future consequences of that action, and the possession of all relevant facts at the time when consent is given.[19]
Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) - An organism in which the genetic material has been altered in a way that does not occur naturally by mating or natural recombination.
Lacey Act – a US law originally passed in 1900 to protect wildlife from trafficking. In 2008 it was amended to include plant products, making it the world’s first ban on the trade of illegally sourced wood products.[20]
Legal timber – timber harvested, transported and traded in compliance with applicable legislation.
Low risk – A conclusion, following a risk assessment, that there is negligible or insignificant risk that illegal material is sourced or traded in a supply chain. Risk mitigation actions are not required for forest products with low risk designation. Low risk equates to “negligible risk” as defined in the EUTR.[21]
International Labour Organisation (ILO) – An organisation bringing together government, employers and workers representatives of 187 member states, to set labour standards, develop policies and devise programmes promoting decent work for all women and men.[22]
Monitoring Organisation (MO) – An organisation recognised by the European Commission under the EUTR. These organisations, which are private entities, provide EU operators with operational due diligence systems.[23]
National Risk Assessment (NRA) – An FSC risk assessment used when sourcing FSC Controlled Wood (CW). The primary objective is to identify low risk areas for timber for each of the five CW categories in priority countries (see Controlled Wood). The NRA takes precedence over the CNRA.
Negligible risk – The EUTR Guidance Document states that “negligible risk should be understood to apply to a supply when, following full assessment of both the product-specific and the general information no cause for concern can be discerned.”[24] Neglible risk equates to Low risk.
Operator - Under the EU Timber Regulation, any natural or legal person that places timber or timber products on the EU market.[25]
Risk assessment - An assessment of the risk of sourcing material from unacceptable sources, including risk related to origin and mixing material in supply chains.
Risk designation – Determination of risk in relation to indicators identified.
Risk mitigation – for each product or supply chain where a specified/non-negligible risk has been identified, additional measures which diminish the risk to a negligible level must be carried out.
Specified risk - A conclusion, following a risk assessment, that there is risk that illegal forest products may be sourced or enter the supply chain. Risk mitigation is required. Specified risk equates to the scenario provided in Article 6(1)(c) of the EU Regulation “except where the risk identified in course of the risk assessment procedures […] is negligible ...”.
Source type – Source types describe possible origins of timber from a country. A source type is characterised by attributes related to; forest type (e.g. plantation or natural forest), geographical location, land classification (e.g. protected or production forest), ownership (e.g. private or state owned) and management regime (e.g. managed by private or state). There are often several different source types within a country. Source types can be clustered in groups where similar risks exist.
Timber Legality Assurance System (TLAS) - The main element of a VPA. A timber legality assurance system enables a VPA partner country to define what is legal timber, verify whether timber products have been harvested, transported and traded legally, track timber and timber products from their origin to their point of exports, issue FLEGT licences for legally verified products to be exported to the EU and subject the entire system to independent auditing.[26]
Timber Source – The origin of timber down to the forest, licence or ownership type.
Trader – Term used under the EU Timber Regulation. Any natural or legal person who in the course of a commercial activity, sells or buys on the internal market timber or timber products already placed on the internal EU market. Commonly, the term is used for a legal entity which buys and sells goods, without transforming them.
Verification of legality - Verification refers to the process of checking that the forest management and supply chain controls meet a defined set of requirements; in this case, legality. It usually involves audits of Forest Management Units and processing facilities, including field inspections, and reviews of documentation and management systems.[27]
Verifier – Verifiers provide specific details that indicate or reflect a desired condition of an indicator.[28]
Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) - A VPA is a bilateral trade agreement between the EU and a timber-exporting country outside the EU. Under a VPA, the timber-producing country develops systems to verify that its timber exports are legal, and the EU agrees to accept only licensed imports from that country.[29]
Definition of terms
- “shall” means that you have to do this.
- “should” means that we encourage you to do this, but you are not required to do so.
- “may” means that you are allowed to do this if you wish.
- “can” means that it is possible for someone to do this.
[Adapted from ISO/IEC Directives Part 2: Rules for the structure and drafting of International standards]
[1] FSC, Glossary of Terms https://ca.fsc.org/preview.fsc-glossary-of-terms-fsc-std-01-002.a-833.pdf
[2] EUFLEGT http://www.euflegt.efi.int/australian-illegal-logging-prohibition-act-2012
[3] ISO: http://www.iso.org/iso/home/standards/certification.htm
[4] WWF: http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/deforestation/forest_sector_transformation/forest_certification/
[5] “How CITES works” https://www.cites.org/eng/disc/how.php
[6] EUFLEGT http://www.euflegt.efi.int/vpau-glossary
[7] Regulation (EU) No 995/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 October 2010 laying down the obligations of operators who place timber and timber products on the market (‘EU Timber Regulation’ or ‘EUTR’), Art. 7
[8] Merriam-Webster https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/consignment
[9] UNIDO https://www.unido.org/csr/o72054.html
[10] Merriam-Webster https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/due%20care/caution/diligence
[11] Definition from Merriam Webster. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/due%20diligence
[12] FLEGT.org http://www.flegt.org/glossary
[13] EUFLEGT http://www.euflegt.efi.int/en/glossary
[14] EUFLEGT http://www.euflegt.efi.int/flegt-licensing
[15] EUFLEGT http://www.euflegt.efi.int/vpau-glossary
[16] FLEGT Licenced Timber: http://www.flegtlicence.org/shipments
[17] Definition adopted from FSC-STD-01-002 FSC Glossary of Terms
[18] Definition adopted from FSC-STD-01-002 FSC Glossary of Terms
[19] FSC, Glossary of Terms https://ca.fsc.org/preview.fsc-glossary-of-terms-fsc-std-01-002.a-833.pdf
[20] EUFLEGT
[21] Regulation (EU) No 995/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 October 2010 laying down the obligations of operators who place timber and timber products on the market (‘EU Timber Regulation’ or ‘EUTR’), Art. 6(1)(c).
[22] ILO http://ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/lang--en/index.htm
[23] European Commission http://ec.europa.eu/environment/forests/timber_regulation.htm
[24] European Commission, Guidance Document for the EU Timber Regulation (February 2016)
[25] FLEGT.org http://www.flegt.org/glossary
[26] FLEGT.org http://www.flegt.org/glossary
[27] Proforest. http://www.proforest.net/en/files/an-overview-of-legality-verification-systems.pdf
[28] Based on FAO: http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/AC649E/ac649e0b.htm