International Seminar for Tackling Illegal Logging,2007 II in Yokohama“A credible and distributable system for verifying
Goho (=legal) wood and wood products”

Summary Statement
December 4th 2007

The Japanese Government included wood and wood products
verified as being legally and sustainably produced (hereinafter referred toas Goho-wood) in its Law on Promoting Green Purchasing in 2006. The
Forestry Agency of Japan announced “Guideline for verification on thelegality and sustainability of wood and wood products”. The woodindustries in Japan have been promoting Goho-wood in accordance with the“Guideline”. In line with such efforts, the “International Seminar for
Tackling Illegal Logging, 2007 in Tokyo” last February proposed “Let us
build a worldwide network of Goho-wood” for further activities. Following
the 1st seminar, the “International Seminar for Tackling Illegal Logging,2007 II in Yokohama” was held with 200 participants from the world.
The aim of this international seminar was to discuss the role of
Goho-wood in promoting sustainable forest management, by sharing
experiences between wood exporters taking efforts to supply Goho-woodand Japanese enterprises endeavoring to promote the purchase, sale and useof Goho-wood. The participants;- recognized that the effort to tackle illegal logging is an important stepto achieve sustainable forest management in the world,- considered that the implementation of the Japanese procurement policy
and the experiences of similar policies in other countries have apotential to contribute to eliminate illegal logging,- expected that the G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit to be held next year inJapan will provide a place for international discussion on sustainable
forest management,- and seeking further actions to tackle illegal logging through promotionof Goho-wood.
Based on these discussions, the executive committee of this seminarconcludes the followings with regard to the Japanese Goho-wood scheme
and its contribution to tackling illegal logging:1. Expansion of the trading of Goho-wood in Japan, which depends onimported wood and wood products for around 80% of its wood
consumption, will have a positive influence on reducing illegal logging
and realizing sustainable forest management.
2. The verification scheme for Goho-wood developed by the Japanesewood industries is regarded as an efficient and realistic scheme. To
meet consumers’ and also international reliance of the Goho-wood
scheme, the wood industries should realize the importance ofsustainable forest management and carry out their mission of theCorporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
3. For the purpose of reinforcing the actions tackling illegal logging, it isimportant to establish an accountable supply chain of Goho-wood. This
chain will provide a basis for promoting Goho-wood procurement not
only from public sector but also from private sector as CSR and even toindividual consumers. It is expected that the guideline of Japan and themeasures taken by the wood industries will encourage demand andsupply for Goho-wood in the international market.
4. It is vital to secure the reliability of supply chain for the promoting of
Goho-wood in consuming countries. This international seminar
contributed to sharing experiences of both producers and consumers.
The discussion identified comprehensive and useful criteria for legality
and sustainability and the reliable schemes for verification. It will guide
further discussions and actions.
5. To inform discussion during 2008 G8 presidency we note the following
points,1) It is important to promote uptake of public procurement policies byother countries and seek consistency between these policies so as tominimize verification costs to suppliers and to facilitate trade.
Furthermore, we note the potential of the independent auditing which
gives credibility to public procurement policies.
2) In response to trade globalization, both of producer and consumer
countries should be encouraged to verify legality and sustainability,
preventing displacement of trade to less discriminating markets andpromoting sustainable forest management.
6. To strengthen the effort in tackling illegal logging, it is important tomaintain the worldwide network of Goho-wood and to enhanceinternational cooperation.
The Executive Committee ofThe International Seminar for Tackling Illegal Logging
2007 II in Yokohama