ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

TIMBER

POLICY AIM

As a major UK retailer of DIY and gardening products, FOCUS recognises the need to conserve the world’s forests. Therefore, we require that virgin and recycled wood and wood fibre products always come from known, legal sources.

POLICY STATEMENT

1. Preference will be given to timber products certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) scheme, where commercially appropriate. All such products will carry the FSC label and will be advertised as FSC certified in store.

2. Suppliers of non-FSC certified products will be actively encouraged to progress their products towards FSC certification, where appropriate.

3. Products certified by the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), the Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC), the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) shall be deemed as originating from known, legal sources.

4. Suppliers will be required to complete a FOCUS Timber Questionnaire, prior to products being accepted into the business, to show that timber used in their products comes from known, legal sources. Where there is insufficient evidence to show that timber comes from known, legal sources, products will be rejected.

  a. Suppliers shall have a system in place to exclude uncontrolled wood and to confirm that the timber used in their products has, as a minimum, been harvested and supplied in accordance with the applicable laws of the source country.

  b. Products that are manufactured from tree species listed on appendices I, II or III of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) will not be accepted unless they are both certified under the FSC Scheme and supported by an appropriate import/export permit.

  c. Products that are manufactured from materials extracted from high conservation value forests will not be accepted unless they are certified under the FSC scheme.

  d. Products manufactured from timber extracted from natural or semi natural forests where there is no intention to maintain or restore the forest’s natural state will not be accepted.

  e. Products manufactured from timber extracted from uncertified tree plantations will not be accepted unless the plantation was established on land that was previously derelict or used for agricultural purposes or, if converted from natural forest, was established before 1995 and is not subject to any continuing social conflict or environmental issue.

  f. All timber supply chains may be audited.

5. The use of recycled post consumer wood or wood fibre in products will be encouraged where appropriate. Such use is not considered to be inferior to the use of certified timber.

6. No environmental claims about the source(s) of the timber used in a product will be permitted other than the legitimate use of the FSC logo and, where appropriate and verified, the post-consumer recycled material content.

7. FOCUS supports the principle of a full ‘right to know’ and will, on request, seek to provide information to customers about the timber content of a specified product.

8. This Policy will be reviewed and assessed annually.

Richard Bird, Brand Director January 2008