The Quebec Wood Export Bureau (QWEB) is aware of the urgent need to take action in the fight against deforestation and the illegal timber trade.
QWEB supports the Japanese government's efforts to combat illegal logging with the Clean Wood Act regulations, and will actively cooperate in these efforts.
QWEB also supports all other initiatives to combat illegal logging, such as the Lacey Act in the USA and FLEG (EUTR) in Europe, Australia's Illegal Logging Prohibition Act, the South Korea Act on Sustainable Use of Timber, Vietnam Decree on Timber legality assurance system and most recently, the European Union's new deforestation regulation (EUDR).
The mandatory requirements imposed by almost all regulations on illegal wood trade and deforestation are requisite to implement a ‘Due Diligence’ Statement to identify, assess, prevent, mitigate, and account for the risk of illegal wood entering the supply chain.
The Quebec Wood Export Bureau (QWEB) and the Quebec Forest Industry Council (QFIC) have conducted a provincial risk analysis for all wood or fiber supplies from public and private forests.
To achieve this, the QWEB and the QFIC formed a working group of regional industrial representatives and ensured the participation of the Ministry of Forests, Wildlife, and Parks (forest sector and regional operations sectors).
You can find the full report and the project description in the documents below.
QWEB is a member association of wood product manufacturers who conduct their business with integrity and in accordance with generally-recognized and accepted standards of social, commercial, and environmental responsibility. To support members of the hardwood and flooring groups wishing to demonstrate this, QWEB developed in 2010, an Environmental, Social, and Commercial Compliance (ESCC) certification.
Certification is voluntary. A certificate of compliance is issued to the company that meets the conditions required by this certification. The list of companies that have obtained this certification can be consulted using the search engine on the QWEB website. They are also listed below.
Guidelines - Business Accreditation Regarding Verification of Legality and Sustainability
1. Purpose
These Guidelines are intended to set out the contents of the "Guidelines for Business Accreditation Regarding Verification of Legality and Sustainability" (hereinafter referred to as the "Guidelines") as stipulated in the "Code of Conduct" created and published by QWEB on December 5, 2006.
2. Subjects of Certification Based on These Guidelines Implementation
2.1 Any business that intends to certify the legality and sustainability of wood and wood products as a legal wood supply certified business entity (hereinafter referred to as the "certified business entity") by QWEB’s Environmental, Social, and Commercial Compliance Certification (ESCC) in accordance with the "Certification method by business entities certified by forest, forestry, and wood industry-related organizations" set out in the "Guidelines for certification of the legality and sustainability of wood and wood products", must be certified based on these implementation guidelines.
2.2 Certification based on these implementation guidelines is available to business entities of our organization. All business entities of our organization should comply with this certification.
2.3 Application for Certification as a Legal Wood Supplier. Business entities who wish to be certified in accordance with this Implementation Guideline shall submit the “Application for Certification as a Legal Wood Supplier”.
3. Examination and Notification of Results
3.1 QWEB established an Assessment Committee appointed by the President for the purpose of accrediting certified business entities in accordance with this Guideline. This Assessment Committee has the power and responsibility to decide if the business entity can be certified or not.
3.2 The Assessment Committee shall conduct a strict documentary examination of the contents of the submitted “Application for Certification of Legal Wood Supplier” in accordance with the intent of this “5 Requirements for Certification” and the Guidelines, and decide whether or not to certify the business entity. If necessary, an on-site assessment shall be conducted.
3.3 QWEB shall notify the applicant of the results of the assessment.
4. Requirements for Certification of Legal Wood Suppliers
Certified business entities shall meet all of the following requirements (segregation and control).
QWEB does not allow non-legal timber sourcing. Thus, 100% of timber should be obtained from legal sources. In the case of an unclear source, timber must be segregated from known source timber until its proof of provenance is clear. Timber should be referred to as nonlegal until proof of provenance has been made and accepted.
4.1 A place must be secured where timber and timber products certified as legal or legal and sustainable (hereinafter referred to as "legal timber") can be stored separately from other timber products (hereinafter referred to as "illegal timber").
4.2 A sorting and management method shall be established so that legal timber and other timber are not mixed at each stage of receiving, shipping, processing, and storing.
4.3 Information on the arrival, shipment, and inventory of legal timber shall be available in a control book, etc.
4.4 Related documents, including certificates, shall be stored for five years.
4.5 At least one person responsible for this activity shall be appointed.
5. Publication of Certificate of Certification of Legal Wood Supplier (QWEB’s Environmental, Social, and Commercial Compliance Certification (ESCC)
5.1 QWEB shall issue a “certificate to a certified business entity” and register as a certified business entity with its unique number, publicize its name, representative name, address, and date of certification on its website, etc.
5.2 The period of validity of the certificate shall be three years from the date of certification unless revocation of the supplier.
6. Description of Certification Matters
Upon request from the buyer, the certified member will stamp the shipping documents with the ESCC stamp, which embodies the timber legality and certification number, as proof of legal timber supplier, and then deliver the timber to the destination.
7. Reporting and Publication of Transaction Performance (for all supply sources)
Certified businesses shall report to QWEB by the end of March each year on their transaction performance for the previous fiscal year regarding legal timber.
8. On-Site Inspection and Audits
QWEB will inspect certified business entities at least once a year or more if other inspections are required. Certified business entities shall cooperate with QWEB by providing necessary information when notified by QWEB that an inspection will be conducted.
8.1 Audits are conducted a minimum of once per year and audit reports are sent to certified business entities. Up to 6 audits per year can be conducted and non-announced audits are possible at any time.
8.2 Bookkeeping of all log supplies shall be maintained for 5 years by certified business entities.
8.3 QWEB has selected accredited inspectors that are charged with conducting these audits.
9. Revocation of Accreditation of Accredited Business Operators
QWEB may revoke the accreditation of an accredited business entity if the business entity falls under any of the following conditions. If it is considered to be malicious, the name of the business entity and its information shall be publicized.
9.1 When there is a false statement in the certificate.
9.2 When an application for withdrawal of accreditation is filed by QWEB or another accredited entity.
When the certification is revoked, QWEB shall send a notice of cancellation of the certification to the business entity.
10. Continuation of Certification as a Legal Wood Supplier
Certified business entities who wish to continue their accreditation shall submit the “Application for Continuation of Accreditation as a Legal Wood Supplier”.
QWEB is working together with partners on an effective tool for mapping timber supply chains from the harvesting zone by using geolocation. Partners like INCOS and FORAC have extensive knowledge of the main forest certification programs in North America and Europe such as the Forest Stewardship Council - FSC®, the PEFC™, and the Sustainable Forest Initiative - SFI® program
This cloud base traceability system was initially developed in response to regulations of importing countries of forest biomass. To comply, the system maps the whole supply chain and confirms forests of origin where primary feedstock is sourced. In combination with regional risk assessments such as ours, the geolocation traceability system is currently used for QWEB pellets producers to conform to the requirements of the Sustainable Biomass Program - SBP certification program.
Every user along the chain will be able to complete its supply chain by using data of the supplier previously entered into the system with the information required by the program regulations (note 1). The information will include geolocation at the city level, to meet the EUDR presented in a provisional text published December 21, 2022, the name of the suppliers, description of the raw material received including the scientific name of species and quantities, the volume of wood product sold, all required documents to demonstrate the conformity, and Due Diligence of low risk of illegally harvested wood.
The program is a cloud base system, working in a collaborative, evolutive, confidential way, but accessible to auditors or even customers with authorized access on request. The system is updated to meet forest certification, and legal and deforestation-free requirements to ensure that exporters fully respond to the Due Diligence obligations of their overseas customers.
Learn more about the EUDR compliance project in the presention available below:
An Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) is a document providing key environmental information about a product or service, quantified with a life cycle analysis (LCA) conducted on a scientific basis. An EPD must follow the rules of the ISO 14025:2006 standard product, as well as the product category rules (PCR) established for the concerned products or services.
As its name suggests, the life cycle analysis describes the environmental impacts throughout the life of a product or service from its initial production to its use. In some cases, such as certain wood products, the analysis is done for all stages from harvesting through to when the finished product is ready to leave the manufacturing facility.