HomeManagement Structure The company has appointed a Chain Of Custody Officer to be responsible for the implementation of this policy and will ensure that environmental issues relevant to the policy are discussed regularly at the highest level of management. The company will ensure that all employees associated with timber purchasing are aware of the policy and its commitments, and are given Appropriate education and training to allow its full implementation.
Responsibility The company recognises that it has a responsibility to the environment, customers, suppliers and staff to base its commercial activities on well-managed forests.
Legality The company is committed to purchasing all timber from legal sources and will seek evidence of compliance from suppliers that they are operating in accordance with the laws of their country. The company unreservedly condemns illegal logging practices and will keep informed of processes and changes in international legislation.
Endangered Species The company will not trade in timber species prohibited under Appendix 1 of the CITES legislation and will obtain the appropriate documents for trade in all other CITES listed timber species.
Traceability and Supplier Monitoring The company will perform a Risk Assessment on all Suppliers, as documented by the RPP. The Risk Assessment will seek to provide the clearest practicable information regarding the sources of raw material used in the manufacture of wood products. This information will form part of purchasing decisions. This information will be made available on request to independent verifiers.
Timber Certification The company supports international efforts to improve forest management, for example, the development of credible timber certification schemes. This company recognises that the independent certification of forests and the process chain is the most useful tool in providing assurances that the timber comes from legal and well-managed forests. The company will only accept or use labels or certificates, which include environmental or sustainability claims, if they are supported by publicly available standards drawn up in a fully participatory transparent and objective manner and backed by independent inspection.
Avoid Boycotts The company will not encourage boycotts or bans on specific species of timber. Notwithstanding this, the company will cease to purchase any timber and timber products whose supply is in breach of the Environmental Code of Conduct .
Continuous Improvement The company is committed to work with relevant trade organisations, NGOs and governments to develop its purchasing policy. The company is committed to continuously raise the proportion of timber and timber products, in accordance with the stepwise approach, that originate from legal and sustainably managed forests.
Reporting and Audit The company will report annually to the appointed auditors ( Soil Association) . The auditors will assess and verify the company's progress and compliance under the Policy.
Alloway Timber and Builders Merchants are committed members of the Timber Trade Federation (TTF) and as such have in place a due diligence system in line with the TTF's Responsible Purchasing Policy, this policy is a risk management framework developed for Timber Trade Federation Members to meet the requirements of its Environmental Code of Conduct and EU Timber regulation.
Our compliance is audited annually by a TTF approved auditor and I attach our most recent RPP certificate of compliance as evidence.
Please click here to view Alloway Timber and Builders Merchants' RPP certificate of compliance. (1.84kb)
In response to growing concerns over forest management worldwide, Alloway Timber and Builders Merchants attained it's own Chain Of Custody Certification in January 2006. It's five branches are certified For Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC) and the Programme For The Endorsement Of Forest Certification (PEFC™). By the Soil Association Certification Ltd.
Click here to Download Alloway Timber and Builders Merchants' FSC Registration Certificate.
Click here to Download Alloway Timber and Builders Merchants' PEFC Registration Certificate.
Click here to View Alloway Timber and Builders Merchants' FSC and PEFC Policy Statement.
Chain of Custody
Chain of Custody (COC) means tracking timber from the tree in the forest, to the processing plant to our depots and to the final customer. It is important that systems are in place at each stage to ensure identification of the material and third party auditing of the supply chain is required to ensure that there is no contamination at any stage.
For the process to work, each company in the supply chain must have their COC system audited against a set method of working and hold a current COC certificate. FSC and PEFC require audits to their own criteria so we have COC certificate issued by Soil Association Certification Ltd against both schemes.
It is essential that customers stipulate the certification requirement at time of order so that our invoices conform to our COC requirements.
Buying Under Chain of Custody
• Be confident about the source of the material
• Be confident that it is third party audited
• Be confident that there is a transparent procedure from the forest to Alloway Timber and Builders Merchants depots
• Be confident it helps promote further supplies of certified material
• Be sure it will result in future resources for future generations
• Be confident that Alloway Timber and Builders Merchants will continue to invest in supporting forestry initiatives
• Be sure that you stipulate your requirements clearly at the time of enquiry or order
• Be aware that each order placed only covers goods to be supplied against that order
• Be aware that if processing goods and supplying on, then your own chain of custody is required
The trademark of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) indicates that the wood used to make the product comes from a forest which is well managed according to strict environmental, social and economic standards.
FSC Supplier
The forest of origin has been independently inspected and evaluated according to the principles and criteria for forest management agreed and approved by the Forest Stewardship Council.
FSC is an international, non-profit association whose membership comprises environmental and social groups and progressive forestry and wood retail companies working in partnership to improve forest management worldwide.
As well as selling FSC certified timber and timber-based products, Alloway Timber and Builders Merchants also stock a range of PEFC certified timber.
The Programme For The Endorsement Of Forest Certification (PEFC) is the world's foremost and largest certification programme for sustainable forest management. It is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental organisation that also provides assurances that wood for certified timber-based products comes from forests that are managed sustainably.
The forest of origin has been independently inspected and evaluated according to the principles and criteria for forest management agreed and approved by the Forest Stewardship Council.
FSC is an international, non-profit association whose membership comprises environmental and social groups and progressive forestry and wood retail companies working in partnership to improve forest management worldwide.
