QUEBEC WOOD EXPORT BUREAU (Q-WEB)
AUDITING AND TRACEABILITY SYSTEMINTERNATIONAL SEMINAR IN TOKYO FOR TACKLING ILLEGAL LOGGING, 2007
Response of the world to the Procurement Policies of Japan
Carl-Éric Guertin
Quebec Wood Export Bureau (Q-WEB), Québec City, Province of Quebec, Canada

The Quebec Wood Export Bureau (Q-WEB) is committed to representing more than 200 wood product manufacturers
and producers that conduct their business with integrity and in a manner consistent with relevant professional standards.
Consequently, Q-WEB has established a Code of Conduct which includes a Policy on Wood Origin and Legality. As aprerequisite for membership, members will be requested to have all their suppliers sign the Policy to demonstrate thelegality of their wood supply. Q-WEB will audit its members to make sure their suppliers have signed the Policy.
Keywords: code of conduct, illegal logging, wood products, audit, traceability

INTRODUCTION
The Quebec Wood Export Bureau (Q-WEB)
The Quebec Wood Export Bureau (Q-WEB) is a
non-profit organization established to promote the exportof wood products from the province of Quebec (Canada).
Q-WEB represents more than 200 member companies
that manufacture wood products in one or more of thefollowing sectors: Construction Grade Softwood Lumber,Appearance Grade Softwood Lumber, Hardwood
Lumber and Components, Hardwood Flooring,Engineered Wood and Products and Prefabricated Wood
Frame Housing.
Q-WEB member companies vary in size ranging
from small family owned companies to multinationalcorporations. Multinational corporations only operate insoftwood sectors.
In the softwood and hardwood
lumber sectors, members can source their timber fromcrown lands (public lands) under a CAAF 1 obtained fromthe Quebec government and/or from small woodlotowners (also called non-industrial private forests) and ina few cases, from their own private lands. Supplies canalso come from other Canadian provinces as well as theUnites States. For the other sectors, members buy theirsawn wood and other wood products on the open market
be it local, regional, provincial or national, as well as fromthe United States.
Q-WEB Code of Conduct
Q-WEB is committed to representing wood productmanufacturers and producers that conduct their businesswith integrity and in a manner consistent with relevant
professional standards. Consequently, Q-WEB adopted
a Code of Conduct (1) during the fall of 2006. For1

CAAF : Timber Supply and Forest Management Agreement

Q-WEB members, adhering to a Code of Conduct means
striving to do what is right, being a good corporate citizenin the community, and integrating social andenvironmental priorities into business practices andrelationships with suppliers and business partners.
Adherence to the Code of Conduct is now a prerequisite
for Q-WEB membership.
In the Code of Conduct, members recognize thatforests are a renewable resource that can provide acontinuous flow of goods and services for current andfuture generations when managed responsibly.
Therefore, Q-WEB members are committed to sourcing
their wood products from companies that can provide
evidence that their supply sources are known and legal,
and that forests are managed according to the legislationin effect.
Q-WEB Policy on Wood Origin and Legality
In Canada, governance, or the lack of ability to
enforce laws is not an issue because of its strict laws andregulations in the forestry sector. What’s more is theefficient compliance monitoring systems that areimplemented and the fines being charged to companies
that do not comply. There are also a number ofwell-structured planning processes and policies in place.
It is for these reasons that there is no suspicious log
supply in Canada as shown in the figure 1.

(2)Figure 1 : Corruption and Illegal Forest Activity

auditing and traceability system. This system could
fall under Reference II – Certification by companies
Approved by industry. The system is solely
intended to verify legality.
Working with suppliers
Since the issue of demonstrating legality is a fairly
new concept in North America, Q-WEB members areencouraged to have a standardized and coherent
approach towards their suppliers whether they are from
Canada, the United-States or overseas. A four-step
approach is proposed and members need to document
every step for auditing purposes:
1.

2.
Still Q-WEB adopted a Policy on Wood Origin andLegality to respond to market demands (private andpublic procurement policies). The Policy was instigatedto foster awareness on forestry and timber trade and todemonstrate best practices for the benefit of the forest
sector, our communities and the environment.
Suppliers are requested to sign the Policy which lists
responsible wood supply practices described here after:

1. Wood that is sourced from areas where logging isauthorized by legislation.

3.

4.

Each member will inform its suppliers of the current
approach and make known that they will have tosign the Policy on Wood Origin and Legality. A
deadline is set to have all the policies signed.
Members may also ask if their suppliers havecertified forests under a specific sustainable forest
management standard or if they have a certified
chain of custody (Canadian Standards Association(CSA),
Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) or
Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI)).
Follow-ups will be undertaken with every supplier tomake sure they received the Policy, discuss any
matter related to the policy and remind them of thePolicy signing deadline.
If, following the first two steps, a supplier has not
signed the Policy, a registered letter will be sent
whereby the previous measures that were taken will
be highlighted. Again, the deadline will bementioned as a last reminder.
If, following these 3 steps, a supplier still does not
sign the Policy, he will be removed from thepreferred suppliers’ list or tagged as a high risk
supplier.

Demonstrating the origin and legality of wood

2. Wood that is procured or purchased in a legalway.
3. Wood where harvesting operations are legal.
4. Wood whose origin can be verified throughproper documentation.
5. All relevant documents, if required, todemonstrate that stumpage fees, taxes or any otherfees related to the harvested timber have been paidor shall be paid according to legal requirements.
6. The location of the forest and legislation in effect,
if required, for the areas where the wood has been
harvested, and also the management plans or any
other documents proving the wood’s origin andlegality.
Q-WEB AUDITING AND TRACEABILITY SYSTEM

In order to meet market demands, i.e. private
and public procurement policies, and more
specifically the Japan Forest Agency “Guidelinesfor Verification on Legality and Sustainability ofWood and Wood Products”, Q-WEB developed an

Q-WEB members are requested to have all
their suppliers sign the Policy on Wood Origin andLegality. For North American suppliers, who supplyNorth American wood species, it is not mandatory
to provide all the documents described in points 5
and 6 of the Policy. However, if in a given situation amember is not confident about one of his North
American suppliers, this member should request
the appropriate documentation listed in points 5and 6 as proof of origin and legality.
In rare cases, where members import exoticspecies, all documents listed in points 5 and 6 will
be requested. For some specific countries,
members are encouraged to ask for thedocumentation identified by the World Wildlife Fundin their publication Keep it Legal (Appendix 7 –Country Legal Documentation Lists).
Auditing

Once a year, a third party hired by Q-WEB willaudit member companies to make sure that all theirsuppliers have signed the Policy on Wood Origin
and Legality. In cases where suppliers have notsigned the policy, members will have todemonstrate, through proper documentation, thatthey followed the four-step approach describedabove in the “Working with suppliers” section.
Upon receiving audit results, Q-WEB will issue
a certificate to members that have met therequirements of the auditing and traceabilitysystem.
AN OTHER EXAMPLE OF CANADIANCOMMITMENT

It is worth mentionning that in Canada there isan other example of a trade association committedto sustainability and traceability. In 2002, FPAC
committed its membership to achieve SFM
certification (CSA, FSC, SFI) on all lands under
their management by the end of 2006(3). FPAC isthe only trade association in the world with this typeof a commitment regarding third party SFM
certification as a condition of membership. As ofJune 2006, FPAC members have achieved
approximately 95% of their commitment to have alllands under their management certified by the endof 2006. By the end of 2006, an area equivalent toSweden, Finland and Norway combined will becertified, accounting for some 3/4 of Canada’s
working forest. As June 2006, almost 120 million
hectares were certified in Canada as show in figure
2.
Figure 2

FPAC will track its member progress against its
commitment on an annual basis. Each FPAC
member will ensure appropriate mechanisms are inplace to deliver on this commitment, such as, but
not limited to:• supplier evidence of legal right to harvest throughtenure or ownership; or• a chain-of-custody certificate; or• an auditable supply chain management system; or• relevant audit results from suppliers or customers;or• supplier SFM certification

CONCLUSION

The traceability of wood products throughout
the supply chain is very complex for small andmedium sized companies. This is especially true
when there are numerous suppliers from bothpublic and private lands as well as from different
provinces and countries. Traceability also gets
noticeably harder as we move along the supply
chain and wood products have undergone manytransformations. By introducing its auditing andtraceability system, Q-WEB and its member
companies have taken a major step to demonstrate
their commitment to counter illegal logging andillegal trade.
As private and public market
expectations evolve, so will the Q-WEB’s auditing
and traceability system. In the future, the next step
will be to identify, for various provinces andcountries, all the documentation suggested inpoints 5 and 6 of the Policy on Wood Origin andLegality. Members could also decide to eventually
trace their wood all the way back to the forest oforigin.
Some member companies already have SFM
certifications and/or chains of custody under CSA,
FSC or SFI. As more and more certified woodenters the market, more members will implement
chains of custody. The lack of certified wood on
the market is a limiting factor at the moment formember companies.
Finally, Q-WEB and its member companies areready to collaborate with suppliers, customers andany organisation who wish to improve this new
auditing and traceability system.

In addition, FPAC members are committed totracing their fibre supplies back to the forest area oforigin by the end of 2008 to assure customers thatthe wood fibre they are using comes from legal
sources 2(4).

2 Given tenure arrangements in Canada, it is often the fibre

suppliers that hold the legal right to harvest whether throughtenure or ownership. Therefore, in the Canadian context,
knowing the fibre supplier is often the equivalent of knowing theforest area of origin. The source is considered legal if it iscertified, recycled, or originates from a forest where the supplieris the owner and/or has evidence of the legal right to harvest.

References(1) Q-WEB, 2006, Code of Conduct, 16 p.
www.quebecwoodexport.com/codeofconduct/index.htm(2) Illegal Logging and Global Wood Markets: The
Competitive Impacts on the U.S. Wood ProductsIndustry. Prepared for the American Forest &Paper Association by Seneca Creek Associates,
LLC and Wood Resources International, LLC.
October, 2004.
(3) FPAC, 2006, Market Acceptance Customer
Briefing Note – Forest Certification, 1p.
(4) FPAC 2006, Traceability Commitment. 1p.,