International Seminar for Tackling Illegal Logging
2007 II in YOKOHAMA

Prospects for Japanese measures against the illegallogging issue and credible and distributable tradingof Goho wood and wood products

Morita, Kazuyuki
Wood Products Trade Office,Forest Agency, MAFF

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1. The Role and Contribution of Consumer Countries on Tackling Illegal Logging
The illegal logging has been discussed in international society as an important
issue to suffocate the efforts to implement Sustainable Forest management since
the end of 90’s.
The discussion has involved various kinds of stakeholders
including law enforcement authorities, custom officers, industry sectors,environmental NGOs and consumer groups.
We agreed the necessity of cooperation between the exporting and importing
countries to eliminate the illegal timber trade.
The background of illegal logging, we have to consider serious complex socialand economic problems in producing countries and it is difficult to seek the way onlyby the producing countries’ effort.
It is important to reducing the incentive to illegal logging by the strong message‘illegally harvested timber should not be used’ by consumer countries, and theexclusion of illegal timber from international trade will contribute to sustainable forest
management for both sides of importing and exporting countries through maintainthe adequate cost of timber.
G8 members committed 3 concrete measures for tackling illegal logging at
Greneagles, UK in 2005.
a. Introducing of the public procurement policyb. Encourage the discussion through the voluntary Code of Conduct to eliminate
illegal timber trade.
c. Strengthen assistance to producing countries.
Japan has taken various actions such as bilateral cooperation with Indonesia
based on the action plan which signed 2002 and contribute the related projectthrough ITTO under the collaboration with private sector, environmental NGOs andconsumer associations under the determination ‘illegally harvested timber should
not be used’.
Regarding the Greneagles Action Plan, Japan introduced government
procurement policy and hosts the expert meetings to monitor the activities by both ofimporting and exporting countries.
2. Japan’s Procurement Policy and its Achievement
Japan has introduced the government procurement policy to lead the movementfor ‘not use any illegal wood’ in market mechanism since April 2006.
This policypoints paper and paper products, furniture, stationery and wood and wood products
using in public construction as the target products. The definition and verification
systems for legality and sustainability are refer the guideline by Forest Agency.
This policy covers the wood and wood products supplied from domestic andimported from developed countries as well as imported from so-called high risk
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countries.
All central government office and agency should draw out their own procurement
plan each year and report the result of it.
The Guideline introduces 3 modalities for verification of legality and sustainability
as examples.
Among the modalities, it is an unique system is the voluntary verification by theindustry which endorsed by the association of industry under a code of conduct for
declaration for not to use illegal wood.
We expect this system will become one of
the key elements of the CoCs to verify legality and sustainability.
This systembases the industry complies with the law and regulation and has accountability toother parties.
When any industry will interfere with the rule, she will be punishedby both of the contract regulation and social penalty such as expelling from theassociation.
More than 6,000 industries have been already endorsed since introducing thegovernment procurement policy, and their supply chain becomes cover the most ofproducts and area in Japanese market.
We expect the dialogues which started with main exporting countries throughintroducing the government procurement policy in various stakeholders will
accelerate the activities for legal and sustainable verification such as to improving
timber tracking and industry’s transparency.
3. The Lessons and Discussions
Although we do not have enough experience to examine the effectiveness andefficiency of Japan’s government procurement policy yet, we recognize thenecessity of further discussion on the following points.
・ Dissemination this action on Goho-wood to the local governments and private
sectors which occupied the main part, more than 97%, of wood consumption inJapan. It is important to involve these sectors to give incentives to strengthen theactivities of eager producers and suppliers.
・ Establishment of the staple market of Goho-wood to offer the opportunities toselect Goho-wood as well as to accept the premium to the consumers wheneverand wherever.
The imported wood and wood products (HS44) accounts 80% of JapaneseMarket, therefore it will be important to collaborate with the exporting countries
including developed countries to establish the Goho-wood market.
According to
the international wood trade, we can realize to occupy the main part of market by
Goho-wood if all developed countries will demonstrate legal verification to theirown exporting wood and wood products, and it will become a strong pressure to3

developing countries under market mechanism.
・ Discussion the improvement the credibility and transparency of legal verificationin the each steps of supply chain under voluntary actions under code of conducts
which following the guideline, and the neutrality of endorsement by associations
and groups.
It will necessary to evaluate the actual result of the procurement and consider
the cost performance of verification system when we improve it, because of it iscritical point for implementation of sustainable forest management, how to bringback the profit possible which comes from forest products as much as possible toforest management in the field level, otherwise the overhead cost will spend all theforest’s fortune.
・ Promotion the discussion on the concrete idea to treat the sustainability in thisprocurement policy.
・ Consideration to establish systems to give various kind of information and proper
advice which including complex rules and regulations on legal verification in eachproducing countries to both of supply and consuming sides.

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