now FSC-CWRA-005-PRT

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FSC-SECR-0180

COUNCIL

Associação para uma Gestão Florestal Responsável (AGFR)

Rua Mestre Lima de Freitas, n.º 1 1549-012 Lisboa/ Portugal Phone: +351 217 100 014 Fax: +351 217 100 037

Vera Santos

Mobile: +351 927 977 876 E-Mail: v.santos@pt.fsc.org www.pt.fsc.org

Scope:

continental Portugal

Version:

Final

Approval date:

01 March 2011

Development:

GPI

National Approval:

Associação para uma Gestão Florestal Responsável /

FSC Portugal

International Approval

FSC International Center: Policy and Standards Unit

Facilitator:

Vera Santos

Email address:

v.santos@pt.fsc.org

FSC Controlled Wood risk assessment

SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS

INTERPRETATION OF ANNEX 2B OF THE STANDARD FOR COMPANY EVALUATION OF

FSC CONTROLLED WOOD FOR PORTUGAL

(FSC-STD-40-005-V-2.1)

Summary of risk for continental Portugal

1 Illegally harvested wood

Low Risk

2 Wood harvested in violation of traditional and civil rights

Low Risk

3 Wood harvested in forests where high conservation values are threatened by

management activities

Low Risk

4 Wood harvested in forests being converted to plantations or non-forest use

Low Risk

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Foreword

The FSC Controlled Wood standards were designed to help manufacturers and traders to avoid

buying wood from the most controversial sources.

For FSC, there are different ways for a company to demonstrate this:

1. Purchase wood from forest management organizations certified according to

FSC-STD-30-010 FSC Controlled Wood standard for forest management enterprises,

2. Purchase FSC Controlled Wood from suppliers holding a valid FSC Chain of Custody

certificate which includes FSC Controlled Wood in its scope; and/or

3. Internally verify its wood sources according to the requirements of FSC-STD-40-005

Company evaluation of FSC Controlled Wood. This is an option for organizations that

can trace their wood supply back to its origins and will generally, therefore, be more

easily applicable to primary processors of wood or wood fibre.

For case 3 above, the organizations are obliged to implement a risk assessment of its suppliers.

FSC-STD-40-005 attributes the obligation of conducting the risk assessment to the certificate

holder (or the certification candidate). It is the responsibility of the Certification Body to evaluate

and verify the technical adequacy and consistency of the company’s risk assessment.

FSC accredited National Initiatives, as well as National and Regional Offices, can provide guidance

to help companies identify credible sources of information to arrive at a sound risk assessment

decision (see General requirements of Annex 2 of FSC-STD-40-005).

Procedure FSC-STD-60-002 specifies the requirements which must be complied with by National

Initiatives which want to carry out a FSC Controlled Wood Risk Assessment. The Risk Assessment

produced will be evaluated by FSC and once approved, becomes mandatory for the district and

category in question.

The advantage of this approach

is that it allows all companies sourcing from a district to use the

same FSC Controlled Wood Risk Assessment, without spending time and resources in repeating

the process and verifying their consistency.

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FSC

C

ONTROLLED

W

OOD

R

ISK

A

SSESSMENT

This evaluation applies to the five FSC controlled wood categories, with the

geographic scope

of continental Portugal and the

district of

origin

specified for each category.

1. Illegally harvested wood

District:

continental Portugal

Requirements Sources of information Key information Conclusion

Category 1. The district of origin may be considered low risk in relation to illegal harvesting when all the following indicators related to forest governance are present:

1.1 Evidence of enforcement of logging related laws in the district.

www.gnr.pt

www.afn.min-agricultura.pt

www.act.pt

The Nature and Environment Protection Service Serviço de Protecção da Natureza e do

Ambiente (SEPNA) is a

specialization of the Republican National Guards Guarda Nacional

Republicana, created in January

2001 to defend Portugal’s

environmental and natural heritage. It was institutionally formed in February 2006 through Decree-Law n.º 22/2006. Since then, the number of environmental /nature inspections carried out in cooperation with related legal responsibilities has grown, and included cooperation in game, fishing and forestry

protection, strengthening SEPNA’s capacity for surveillance and inspection of national territory. In the enquiries carried out, no significant evidence of infractions

According to this indicator, Portugal can be considered a low risk

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was found. 1.2 There is evidence in the district

demonstrating the legality of harvests and wood purchases that includes robust and effective systems for granting licenses and harvest permits.

www.afn.min-agricultura.pt

www.icnb.pt

www.asae.pt

In Portugal there is a robust legal system which includes the activities of forest harvesting and wood purchase, with responsibilities shared among three regulatory entities.

district.

1.3 There is little or no evidence or reporting of illegal harvesting in the district of origin.

www.gnr.pt

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/fore sts/

www.illegal-logging.info

After consulting various national and international sources, no significant reports or evidence were found of illegal forest harvesting.

district.

1.4 There is a low perception of corruption related to the granting or issuing of harvesting permits and other areas of law enforcement related to harvesting and wood trade.

www.transparency.org According to Transparency

International, Portugal’s Corruption

Perception Index (CPI) was 5.8 in 2009. This index has declined over the last few years, showing that corruption is perceived to be

increasing lately. However, this is an extremely generalist indicator of corruption and does not reflect the situation of the forestry sector, which is considered to have a low level of corruption.

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2. Wood harvested in violation of traditional and civil rights

District:

continental Portugal

Category 2. The district of origin may be considered low risk in relation to the violation of traditional, civil and collective rights when all the following indicators are present:

2.1 There is no UN Security Council ban on timber exports from the country concerned.

www.un.org

www.globalwitness.org

The information on export bans by the UN Security Council can be consulted on the United Nations and Global Witnessinternet sites. None of the sites mention a UN Security Council ban on timber exports from Portugal.

district.

2.2 The country or district is not designated a source of conflict timber (e.g. USAID Type 1 conflict timber).

www.usaid.gov - Conflict Timber: Dimension of the Problem in Asia and Africa. Volume I. Synthesis report. June 2003

The sources suggested by FSC IC and other online searches do not designate Portugal as a source of conflict timber.

district.

2.3 There is no evidence of child labour or violation of ILO

fundamental Principles and Rights at work taking place in forest areas in the district concerned.

www.ilo.org

www.peti.gov.pt

www.cnasti.pt

www.act.pt

Portugal is signatory of the following ILO conventions: 29, 87, 97, 98, 100, 105, 11, 131, 135, 138, 141, 144, 155 and 182, including those related to child labour.

Child labour in Portugal is presently a known reality. Once its existence was acknowledged, Portugal sought to establish its current dimension and main characteristics, promoting a rigorous identification of the number of children and young workers using ILO (through

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IPEC/SIMPOC) parameters, indicators and methodologies. The National Work Authority’s (ACT) latest report (2007) refers that it continues to cooperate with other governmental and

non-governmental organizations, with particular relevance to the Plan for Elimination of Child Labour (PETI), social partners and the National Confederation for Action on Child Labour (CNASTI), regarding identification of child labour cases and actions implemented.

The evolution registered in this area is decidedly positive. While in 1997 in each thousand child-labour-risk inspections, 114,23 under-age workers were found, in 2007 this indicator is practically inexpressive (0,13).

Thus, in Portugal, if one considers child labour to persist in the forest sector, it is nonetheless residual. 2.4 There are recognized and

equitable processesin place to resolve conflicts of substantial magnitude pertaining to traditional rights including use rights, cultural interests or traditional cultural identity in the district concerned.

www.mj.gov.pt In Portugal, the legal system and measures to resolve conflicts pertaining to traditionalrights are effective and comply with FSC requirements.

district.

2.5 There is no evidence of

violation of the ILO Convention 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples taking place in the forest areas in the district concerned.

In Portugal there are no Indigenous or Tribal Peoples, such as defined by the United Nations.

This indicator can be considered as

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3. Wood harvested in forests in which high conservation values are threatened by management activities

District:

continental Portugal

Category 3. The district of origin may be considered low risk in relation to threat to high conservation values if:

a) indicator 3.1 is met; or

b) indicator 3.2 eliminates (or greatly mitigates) the threat posed to the district of origin by non-compliance with 3.1. 3.1 Forest management activities

in the relevant level (eco-region, sub-eco-region, local) do not threaten eco-regionally significant high conservation values.

www.panda.org/about_our_earth/ecoregions/ mediterranean_forests_scrub.cfm

www.icnb.pt

FSC refers as key sources on eco-regions work carried out by WWF, Conservation

International, GreenPeace and IUCN, among others.

In Portugal, the dominant eco-region by far is Mediterranean Forests, Woodlands and Scrub; a detailed description of the HCV associated to this eco-region can be found on the WWF indicated in the previous column.

The main threats mentioned by WWF are continuing conversion of these forest areas to

agriculture, grazing or urban use. Other threats are frequent fires, harvesting of the

remaining areas of natural forests, the excessive use of exotic species and overgrazing.

According to this indicator, Portugal can be considered a

low risk district.

3.2 A strong system of protection (effective protected areas and

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legislation) is in place that ensures survival of the HCVs in

the ecoregion. www.icnb.pt

www.gnr.pt

www.govindicators.org

on legal protection regimes (such as the National network of protected areas, Natura 2000 network, etc.), which limits the activities allowed in these areas. There is also an inspection authority, SEPNA, whose results, and their effectiveness, have increased over the years.

International perception (World Bank) of the robustness of the eco-region’s HCV protection system also corroborates national perception.

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4. Wood harvested from areas being converted from forests and other wooded ecosystems to plantations or non-forest

uses

District:

continental Portugal

Category 4: The district of origin may be considered low risk in relation to conversion of forest to plantations or non-forest uses when the following indicator is present:

4.1 There is no net loss AND no significant rate of loss (> 0.5% per year) 8 of natural forests and other naturally wooded ecosystems such as savannahs taking place in the eco-region in question.

http://www.fao.org

www.afn.min-agricultura.pt/

www.icnb.pt

According to the FAO’s State of the World’s Forests last report, there has been an increase of forest area in Europe and this expansion of forest resources to abandoned farmland is likely to continue.

Existing legislation prohibits conversion of natural forest to plantations (1901 and 1903

regime florestal decrees,

decree-laws n. º 166/2008, of 22-08 on the National Ecological Reserve, 254/2009, of 24-09 on the Forest code and 169/2001, of 25-05 on cork and holm oak).

Furthermore, land use changes after forest fires are conditioned by law (decree-laws n. º 254/2009, of 24-09, on the Forest code and 169/2001, of 25-05, on cork and holm oak); changes must be submitted to the National Forest Authority (AFN).

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Natural forests are classified as habitats, and are thus

safeguarded by another legal framework which is even more limiting.

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5. Wood from forest management units in which genetically modified trees are planted

Distrito:

Portugal continental

Category 5: The district of origin may be considered low risk in relation to wood from genetically modified trees when one of the following indicators is complied with:

a) There is no commercial use of genetically modified trees of the species concerned taking place in the country or district concerned.

http://europa.eu.int/comm/environme nt/biotechnology/index_en.htm

www.maotdr.gov.pt/

www.apambiente.pt/politicasambient e/biotec/ogm/

The deliberate release into the environment of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) is regulated by Directive 2001/18/CE, of 17th April (transposed to national law by decree-law n. º 72/2003, of 10-04). As part of its responsibilities, the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) maintains records on the location of cultivated GMOs, so as to supervise their effects on the

environment and provide the public with information on their deliberate release into the environment As to field trials with GMOs for experimental aims, decree-law n. º

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b) Licenses are required for commercial use of genetically modified trees and there are no licenses for commercial use.

72/2003 establishes a specific permission process, whereby the designated authority analyses the information submitted, namely environmental risk assessment, public consultation and the opinion of the national Health and

Agriculture authorities.

In Portugal, there is only one record of the use of genetically modified trees – a trial by a private company, Celbi, which terminated in 2001. In Portugal, licenses are required for commercial use of genetically modified trees, as specified by decree-law n. º 72/2003, of 10-04. c) It is forbidden to use genetically