February, 2007
International Seminar in Tokyo for Tackling Illegal Logging,2007

Response of Forest-products Identification Promotion Conference to Japan’s WoodProcurement Policy Measures to Counter Illegal Logging
Kouji Kadoya 1
Secretary-General, Forest-products Identification Promotion Conference
c/o Japan Federation of Wood Industry Associations, 6F Nagata-cho Bldg., 2-4-3 Nagata-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
100-0014
The Forest-products Identification Promotion Conference (FIPC) was founded to promote voluntary identification of tree
species, place of origin, processing type, etc. of forest products. In April 2006, the Japanese government started
implementing their policy to give priority to legally harvested wood/wood products in government procurement. In
response to this, the FIPC revised its charter in March 2006, and sought the status of a certification body as specified in
the guideline of the Forestry Agency. Currently, there are more than 100 such certification bodies in Japan. However, theFIPC is unique in that it can operate a certification system that is based on the Forestry Agency’s guideline and goesbeyond the boundaries of industry segments or geographical areas.
Keywords: Place of origin, tree species, processing type, voluntary labeling

Introduction
The Green Purchasing Law was revised and the woodprocurement policies of governmental bodies werechanged. Now national and local governments givepriority to procuring wood that is legally verified. Thus,
certification activities of legal wood suppliers byindustry organizations commenced, based on theForestry Agency's Guideline for Verification on Legalityand Sustainability of Wood and Wood Products."
Currently, there are over 100 bodies that certify legal
wood suppliers in the nation, such as Prefectural
Federation of Wood Industry Associations, and thePrefectural Federation of Forest Industry Associations,and the FIPC is one of them.
The primary aim of the FIPC is to establish a uniform
set of rules to voluntarily identify the tree species,
place of origin, processing type, etc., in the labels ofwood/wood products, and to promote fair and just
implementation of such rules.

and the basic matters concerning its implementation.”
The law advocates as its principal philosophy, 1)
fulfillment of multi-faceted functions of forests and 2)
sustainable and healthy development of forestry
industry. The law further specifies 1) promotion offorest enhancement and 2) assured conservation offorests as the policy measures to practice the said
philosophy. It also provides that the Basic Plan for
Forest and Forestry should be developed tocomprehensively and systematically implement forest
and forestry policy measures.
The Forest Law aims to “specify the basic mattersconcerning forest plans, protection of forests, andother forests; plan for forest maintenance and growthand forest productivity increase; and thereby contributeto conservation of the national land and developmentof the national economy.” This is to realize one of thephilosophy statements in the Basic Law, “the fulfillmentof the multi-faceted functions of forests.”

In response to the government’s decision to givepriority to legal wood/wood products in theirprocurement exercise after the enforcement of theGreen Purchasing Law in April 2006, the FIPC revised
its charter in March 2006, and decided to seek thestatus of a certification body as specified in the said
guideline.

The forest planning system and the protection forest
system specified by the Forest Law are thecomponents most closely related to “the legality at thetime of logging” as described in the said guideline.

This paper will explain the background of theestablishment of the FIPC, and the current status oflegal wood supplier certification.

The Forest Law specifies two-phase planning by thenational forest plan and the regional forest plan, andtheir operational-level planning in the municipal forest
enhancement plan and the forest operation plan.

Japan’s Forest Management and Green
Procurement of Wood and Wood Products
Legislation Concerning Forest Management
Japan has two principal pieces of legislation
concerning forest management: The Basic Law on
Forest and Forestry, and the Forest Law.
The former is a product of a revision of the Basic
Law on Forestry and was enacted in 2002. It is thehighest-level legislation concerning forests, and it
specifies “the basic philosophy for forest and forestry

The Forest Planning System and its OperationalStatus

The national forest plan is developed by the Ministryof Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries every 5 years fora term of 15 years, and its scope encompasses all theforests of the nation. The plan is developed inaccordance with the above-said Basic Plan, andconsiders the status of enhancement of conservation
facilities, etc. The regional forest plan is developed by
the prefectural governors every 5 years for a term of 10years in accordance with the national forest plan. The
scope of the regional forest plan encompasses theprivately owned forests in the 158 forest planningareas of the nation. These plans determine the basic

February, 2007
International Seminar in Tokyo for Tackling Illegal Logging,2007
matters
regardingforestenhancement
andconservation, such as the locations and areas of theforests by each function of forests, and theirenhancement and conservation objectives.
The municipal forest enhancement plan is developedby the municipality every 5 years for a term of 10 years,
in accordance with the above-said regional forest plan.
Its scope encompasses the privately owned forests
within the municipal area.
Forest owners/operators prepare a forest operation
plan for a term of 5 years, singularly or jointly withothers, if a joint enhancement is appropriate for theforest in question. They submit the plan to theircity/town/village mayor, and seek the approval that theforest operation plan in question is appropriate. This is
the tool to link the individual forest operators to thethree forest plans: The national forest plan, theregional forest plan, and the municipal forest plan.
Approximately one half of the nation’s privately owned
forests are thought to be under a forest operation plan.
If a forest owner/operator chooses not to prepare theabove-described forest operation plan, and if he/she
wishes to cut down trees standing in a privately owned
forest in the scope of a regional forest plan, theowner/operator must submit a logging plan to themunicipal mayor. The logging plan must explain thelocation of the forest, the area to be logged, the logging
method, the ages of the trees to be logged, the forest
regeneration method after logging, the logging period
and tree species, and other relevant information.
Forty-five percent of the nation’s forests aredesignated “protection forests” and any logging inthese forests requires a permit from the prefectural
governor of the jurisdiction.
The biggest issues of forest management in Japanare effective use of forests planted after the war, andtheir care and management, such as thinning.
Inappropriate logging practices are rather unlikely to
be seen in this country.
Our nation does not have any domestic legislation toregulate processing, transport, import, and use ofwood and wood products. The nation, however, isrequired to fulfill the obligations of a signatory tointernational treaties, such as the CITES (Conventionon International Trade in Endangered Species.)
The Movement of Green Procurement of Wood, andResponse to the Movement
From April 2006, the Japanese government
implemented its policy measure to give priority to woodand wood products, of which the legality is verified, intheir procurement exercise in accordance with theGreen Purchasing Law. In response to thisdevelopment, efforts were made to rapidly establish asystem to supply legal wood and wood products. The
establishment phase of such a system is nearcompletion.
The change in the government’s wood procurement

policy significantly influenced wood procurement
policies of private enterprises: Furniture manufacturer
associations and other groups published their codes ofconduct to counter illegal logging, and residential home
manufacturers are in discussion to clearly define theirlegal wood procurement policies.
Establishment of the FIPC and its Activities
Labeling of Tree Species, Place of Origin, andProcessing TypeThe FIPC aims to fulfill its accountability as a groupof wood suppliers and contribute to diffusion of legal
wood use, by disclosing information to wood users andconsumers through voluntary labeling of forest
products indicating the tree species, places of origin,and processing type.
Consumers are increasingly sensitive with the quality,standards, and place of origin information about
agricultural and fishery products, foods, and othersundry commodities used in their daily life. In order to
respond to the needs of consumers, wood suppliers
need to disclose such information about wood supplies,and send the message that wood is a material
consumers can use safely, without harm to theirhealth, and with peace of mind.
Therefore, the FIPC concluded that wood labelingindicating its place of origin, tree species, andprocessing type would be the way to fulfill the woodindustry’s accountability and social responsibility toconsumers, builders, and carpenters. The FIPC wasestablished as the mother organization to promote andencourage the establishment of a labeling system for
information disclosure and its stringent andresponsible practice. The FIPC concluded that
disclosing the place of origin, etc. would serve as a toolto exclude illegally harvested wood from the market.
The Activities of the FIPC
The FIPC is an independent organization ofbusinesses that wish to actively disclose wood
identification information. The members of the FIPC
label their products in an accurate manner andaccording to the rules specified by the FIPC, so thatthe place of origin, tree species, and processing typemay be clearly identified. The FIPC also implements
activities to communicate the aim and necessity ofsuch labeling, and to ensure the credibility of thelabels.
A business must pass a qualification audit to becomea FIPC member. Once qualified as a member, thebusiness undergoes a qualification renewal audit every
three years. To ensure the impartiality, fairness, andtransparency of these audits, the audit committee
members
comefromresearchorganizations,non-government organizations (NGOs) and consumer
groups. All members are from non-wood and wood
product industry.
The label must indicate the place of origin, tree
species, and processing type, as well as the name ofFebruary, 2007
International Seminar in Tokyo for Tackling Illegal Logging,2007
the FIPC.
The place of origin is normally the name of a nation,
but the business may opt to indicate the name of anarea in brackets next to it. The reason is as follows: InJapan, it is a traditional and commonplace practice fora wood supplier to indicate the area of origin of thewood, and such indication serves as the brand of woodthey sell. The FIPC assumed that allowing theindication of the area of origin would make it easier for
the Japanese wood distribution industry to widely
accept the FIPC labeling system.
The FIPC decided to take the common nameapproach to the tree species indication. Some tree
species are called by names uniquely known within thewood supply industry, and many discussions werenecessary to determine the names to be used in thetree species labels. However, the FIPC felt that it was amandate of its labeling system to let the consumers
know the accurate names of trees, which they tend touse without recognizing them.
The processing type indication was introduced todistinguish mainly between natural wood andlaminated timber. However, more recently, it has
proved useful for distinction between plywood, LVL(Laminated Veneer Lumber), MDF (Medium DensityFiber Board), and OSB (Oriented Strand Board).
The above-discussed information items are written
on a label or sticker together with the logo shown below,
and attached to the wood/wood products for shipment.

ム ク 材
樹種：スギ（人工林）
原産地：日本（埼玉西川）requirements to conduct the legal wood suppliercertification in light of the Forestry Agency’s guideline,
and there was no doubt that such certification should
become one of the FIPC’s businesses. Therefore, it
revised its charter in March 2006 and enacted the“voluntary code of conduct concerning illegal logging
countermeasures” and started its legal wood suppliercertification as an industry organization.
Certification Method and Logo
As explained before, the FIPC was originallyestablished to ensure the identification of place oforigin, tree species, and processing type of wood, andits members have passed a rigorous qualification audit.
The FIPC therefore concluded that the members
needed only to answer a few additional questions andreceive a few more audits to meet the requirements
specified in the said guideline for legal wood suppliercertification.
The FIPC member qualification audit is performed on
the assumption that separation by tree species andplace of origin, appointment of a responsible person,and control of the documented body of evidence are
the most important components of its member
qualification audit. These requirements are the sameas those for proof of legality, where separation ofverified and un-verified wood supplies is required.
Therefore, the FIPC concluded that a member could becertified as a legal wood supplier if it rigorously
controls the separation of verified and un-verified wood
supplies.
A certified business is permitted to put the FIPC logo
including the capital letter “L,” on their product label
indicating the tree species, place of origin andprocessing type. The “L” mark as shown below may not
be used alone. It must accompany a label of the placeof origin and other required information.

木材表示推進協議会

No.000001

http://www.zenmoku.jp/fipc

ム ク 材

樹種：スギ（人工林）
原産地：日本（埼玉西川）

If a complaint is received regarding the labeling andits contents, the audit committee investigates thematter by hearing, site inspection and other means,
and takes appropriate measures. These include
requesting improvement, a corrective action order, ordisqualification and a public announcement thereof,
depending on the findings of the investigation.

木 材 表 示 推 進 協 議 会

No.000001

http://www.zenmoku.jp/fipc

Current Status of Legal Wood Suppliers
Legal Wood Supplier Certification
In accordance with the clear government
procureme nt policy as specified in the Green
Purchasing Law in force from April 2006, the Forestry
Agency proposed a set of guideline on methods toprove the legality of wood. The guideline states that anindustry organization may conduct a qualification auditof its member, and certify it as a legal wood supplier.
The FIPC is an organization that fulfills theAfter the commencement of legal wood suppl ier
certification in June 2006, we have certified 45businesses.
Scheme to Prove Legality
The FIPC proves the legalit y of wood in accordancewith the Forestry Agency’s guideline, and the legality isdefine d as follows: “The procedure of logging the trees
was appropriate in light of the legislation concerning

February, 2007
International Seminar in Tokyo for Tackling Illegal Logging,2007
forests in the state or area where the trees originallygrew.”
In the case of domestically produced wood and woodproducts, those of which the legality is proven by theindication of a legal wood supplier certification number,or those harvested from forests certified by
Sustainable Green Ecosystem Council (SGEC), Forest
Stewardship Council (FSC), and other forest
certification bodies, are recognized as legal
wood/wood products.
In case of imported wood/wood products, the FIPCverifies their legality in accordance with the said
guideline as follows: The FIPC checks the distribution
route from the production of the wood in question to thefactory, etc. of the applicant business, requests thesubmission of proof of legality in light of the legislationof the exporting country from which the wood isharvested and exported, conducts an audit at the FIPC
audit committee meeting, and certifies the legality of
the wood in question, if its legality is considered
rationally proven. Once a supply is certified, the FIPC
only considers the subsequent supplies of wood legal if
the identical importing route is used.
Scheme of Separative Management
The normal distribution of domestic wood is asfollows: The forest owner sells standing trees to log
producers, and they cut the trees and ship the logs tothe log markets. The logs are sold to lumber
manufacturers by auction or bidding. The lumber isshipped to lumber markets nationwide and sold totimber manufacturers, again by auction or bidding.
As wood and timber products go through many
stages in their distribution route as described above,
strict separative management each of these stages
must be ensured.
Future Tasks and Perspectives
Current Problems and Required Improvements
Japan has Japan Agricultural Standards (JAS) andApproved Quality (AQ) for quality standard labe lingsystems for wood and wood products. There are alsochain of custody (CoC) forest certification systems
such as FSC and SGEC to guarantee the sustainabilityof the forests from which the wood and wood products
come. The FIPC’s labeling system is an indication of
information such as place of origin and tree species,
which are not included in these other labeling systems.
On the other hand, the consumer’s interest in theplace of origin and tree species is weaker that their
desire to know more about food products and sundry
items that are more directly connected to the state of
their health. Wood is used for building residential
homes but consumers do not buy them directly, andtherefore, their desire to know its place of origin is notvery strong.
As a consequence, the wood industry’s interest in thisissue is not very high, and the number of participatingwood supply businesses is still low. However, the FIPC
believes that the demand for legal wood/wood products
will grow stronger in the future, and the FIPC intends tooperate its labelling system as a means of woodinformation
disclosure
togetherwithlegalityverification.
Needless to say, the accuracy, fairness, andtransparency of the labeling system must be strictly
maintained.
Expectation forProcurement

andRequirementsofGreen

The Green Purchasing Law is the government’s firststep in tackling the most serious environmental issues
for us all. Our future challenge is to spread this practice
to not only governmental bodies, but also local
municipalities, private enterprises, and genericconsumers.
If specific demand from the consumer side is notpresent, the supplier side normally does not embark on
the costly information disclosure. The public
administration needs to advocate more about theimportance of legality labeling.
The FIPC recognizes the importance of theinformation disclosure about wood supplies, and willreinforce its educational and PR activities forconsumers.
Reference Ma terials[1] Voluntary Code of Conduct to Counter Illegal
Logging,
JapanOfficeInstitutional
Furniture
Association, June 2006
Identification[2]
Forest-products
Conference Rule Book, May 2006

Promotion