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On 30 November 2014, the Illegal Logging Act law will come into effect. The Act, passed by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, requires all importers of wood based products (including us) to formally declare their shipment does not contain any illegal wood fibre. In order for companies/people to make this legal declaration they must first undertake comprehensive due diligence on all the wood based products they import. Wood based products can be: newsprint, toilet paper, greeting cards, furniture, wood pulp, building materials and of course in our case, commercial printing paper.
The due diligence process requires a detailed investigation into each product, the company who makes it, the tree species used, the country of origin and the overall risk associated with the contents of the product. Only after the criteria has been met and the product is considered low risk can the company then make this legal declaration and continue to import the wood based product.
K.W.Doggett Fine Paper is currently undertaking this project and has now factored the due diligence process into our standard purchasing procedure. The benefits to you are that you can be sure that any wood based product you purchase within Australia has been subjected to the due diligence criteria and is almost certain to have not contributed to the world wide issue of illegal logging. Illegal logging continues to be a global problem and the best way to stop supply is to dry up demand. If illegal harvesters can’t sell the wood anywhere, then there’s no incentive to chop it down. Similar acts have been passed in the US, Canada and Europe and more countries/regions are set to follow.
For years, illegal logging has been degrading forests, reducing biodiversity and significantly contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. Most of this logged wood ends up in things like furniture or for local energy use. It’s not to say the paper industry hasn’t over the years contributed to deforestation but the reality is paper and climate change have been so closely linked for over 20 years now that it can be considered one of the world’s leading industries for environmental stewardship. The beauty of having the NGO’s shine their spotlight on our industry means that we have had to examine each and every process. Raw material, re-harvesting, energy consumption and recycling after use. We’re proud of where our industry sits now and K.W.Dogggett Fine Paper has an open book policy for anybody who wishes to review where our paper comes from and how it is made.
Summary of illegal logging:
- Reassurance the paper you purchase is sourced from responsibly managed forests and/or third party certification programs like FSC or PEFC.
- Information will be available regarding the country of origin the wood chips are sourced from.
- A comprehensive list of the names of timber species used in each product.
- Confidence in knowing you are helping to support and improve how the world’s forests are managed for future generations.
We don’t view sustainability as an environmental catch-cry, but rather as a way of doing business, which is why we source quality products that are of no compromise to sustainability. All of our paper is responsibly sourced and in fact, 96% bear the third party certification of either FSC or PEFC. Having this extra level of assurance with the Act being passed, will assist you with making even more confident paper choices.
If you want to know more about the Illegal Logging Act, visit www.daff.gov.au/illegallogging and you can subscribe for updates through this email: illegallogging@agriculture.gov.au
