The
Nippon Paper Group put into practice the Action Plan for promoting CSR procurement
including legality verification of wood products in accordance with its Philosophy
and Basic Policy Concerning Raw Materials Procurement. The Action Plan places
a focus with respect to foreign-source materials on improving traceability based
on the collection of extensive information, including suppliers' compliance with
forest legislation and with regard to domestically produced materials on encouraging
suppliers to obtain certification from wood industry organizations for verification
of legality. The following section takes a close look at the progress of the
Action Plan as well as the status of efforts made to encourage CSR procurement.
 |
| |
| Suppliers secure raw
materials from a wide range of sources, including their own forests, public
forests, private forests and sawmill residues. The forest control system varies
from country to country. In some countries, there are no special regulations
or formalities with regard to logging in privately owned forests. For these reasons,
there are few documents that clearly verify that woodchips exported to Japan
involve raw timber logging that is in compliance with statutory regulations.
Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd. has introduced the following measures to enhance
the traceability and to ensure legality and sustainability of lumber procurement. |
| • |
Suppliers are asked to confirm
in shipping documents that they comply with relevant laws and regulations and
that the shipped materials include no illegally logged lumber. |
| • |
The Company conducts
a detailed questionnaire survey to suppliers. The survey covers questions concerning
laws and regulations applicable to forestry businesses and their compliance,
classification of forests, the status of forest certification and other basic
information as well as those on consideration given to the environment, human
rights and labor. This survey will be conducted on a regular basis. |
| |
| ■ Countries and areas
of origin and species of foreign-source materials |
| Hardwood materials |
| Country |
% |
Species |
Areas |
| Australia |
49 |
Eucalyptus |
New South Wales, Victoria,
Tasmania, West Australia |
| South Africa |
31 |
Eucalyptus and acacia |
Kwazulu-Natal, Mpumalanga,
West Cape, East Cape, etc. |
| Chile |
6 |
Eucalyptus |
VII, VIII, IX |
| Brazil |
6 |
Acacia |
Rio Grande do Sul |
| Uruguay |
7 |
Eucalyptus |
Lavalleja, Maldonado, Rocha,
Florida |
| Thailand |
1 |
Eucalyptus |
Surin, Buri Ram, Si Sa Ket,
Roi Et, Yasothon, etc. |
| Total |
100 |
|
|
|
| |
| Softwood materials |
| Country |
% |
Species |
Areas |
| Australia |
56 |
Monterey pine |
South Australia,
Victoria, New South Wales |
| United States |
23 |
Douglas fir |
Oregon |
| Brazil |
9 |
Caribbean pine |
Amapa |
| Canada |
6 |
SPF(*) |
British Columbia |
| Russia |
4 |
Russian spruce/abies |
Primorsky |
| Chile |
2 |
Monterey pine |
VII, VIII, IX |
| Total |
100 |
|
|
|
| *SPF stands for spruce, pine and
fir. |
| |
|
| • |
None of the countries
listed above prohibits lumber exports. None of the lumber species used are subject
to restrictions on logging or trading under the Convention on International Trade
in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES or the Washington Convention)
or under national legislation. |
| |
| ■ Forest ownership regarding
the sources of foreign-source materials |
| • |
In general, Australian hardwood
woodchip suppliers obtain their raw materials chiefly from state-owned forests
while such suppliers based in other countries from their own forests or from
general private forests. |
| • |
Roughly 70% of softwood
woodchips derive from Douglas fir, Monterey pine and other residual wood generated
from lumbering or damaged by insects. Some of the woodchips are produced mainly
from logs that cannot be processed into lumber because of sub-standard diameters
or quality. |
| Hardwood woodchips |
Softwood woodchips |
|
 |
| |
|
| ■ Forest classification
of imported hardwood materials and forest certification |
| Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd. is working on a goal of ensuring
by 2008 that all imported hardwood materials are from afforested forests or certified
forests. In CY 2006, it is estimated that 24% of imported hardwood materials
purchased by the Company are from non-certified natural forests. They are purchased
from suppliers obtaining raw materials mainly from state-owned forests in the
Australian states of New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia. These states
are preparing to achieve Australian Forestry Standard (AFS) certification, which
is mutually recognized with an international forest certification operated by
the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes (PEFC). The
forests are expected to obtain this certification by 2008. |
| • |
Forest management
in Australia |
| |
In line with the national principle
of forest protection, Australia has developed its own guidelines for conservation
of biodiversity, old growth forests and wilderness. In consideration of the environment,
heritage, economy and social value through deliberations with stakeholders, forests
that have to be protected are clearly distinguished from those which may be exploited.
Each Australian state has Forest Practices Code that specifies tree cutting methods,
areas where logging is permitted and protection details. Lumber producers are
required to create Forest Practices Plan in compliance with the Code. Logging
may not be permitted without the plan and without the approval of the Forest
Practices Officers. Logging work is audited. The Forest Practices Plan includes
confirmation of forest ownership and the right to use the forest. No approval
is granted if there is any dispute over either of these areas.
Australia has established this system to ensure lumber legality and sustainable
forestry management. The absence of forest certification does not mean that sustainable
forest management is not practiced. |
| |
|
| Share
of imported hardwood materials by type |
 |
| ■ Chain of custody for
imported hardwood materials |
| The Law Concerning the Promotion
of Procurement of Eco-Friendly Goods and Services by the State and Other, better
known as the Green Procurement Law*1, suggests chain-of-custody (CoC) certification*2
as a way of verifying lumber legality and sustainability. For nearly 60% of the
hardwood woodchips imported by the Company, local suppliers, brokers and the
Company are CoC certified under the FSC or PEFC system. As more and more forests
serving as supply sources in Australian and elsewhere are certified, the CoC
ratio of imported hardwood materials will rise. |
| |
|
| CoC for imported hardwood
materials |
|
 |
*1 |
Refer
to "The Law Concerning the Promotion of Procurement of Eco-Friendry Goods
and Services by the State and Other Entries"
http://www.env.go.jp/en/laws/policy/green/index.html
|
| *2 |
Chain-of-custody (CoC) certification:
CoC certification is a mechanism under the FSC, PEFC and other forest certification
system for verifying that materials from forests certified under different systems
are used in the phases of production, processing and distribution. |
| |
| ■ Sustainable forest
management |
Whereas the Green Procurement
Law has no specific definition of sustainable forest management, the Company
has its own criteria: (i) protection of biodiversity, (ii) maintenance of productivity
and soundness of the forest eco-system, (iii) conservation of soil and water
resources and (iv) satisfaction of community requests. Nippon Paper Industries
Co., Ltd. carries out a survey to assess compliance with general forestry legislation
as well as with laws and rules on the conservation of biodiversity, eco-systems
and soil and water resources. |
| |
| ■ Consideration given to human
rights, labor and local communities |
| The survey conducted by Nippon
Paper Industries Co., Ltd. also examines consideration to human rights and labor,
such as the elimination of forced labor and child labor, freedom of labor unions
and workers' safety and health. Suppliers respond that they each have a policy
on human rights and labor or a system for dealing with such matters and that
they face no problem with regard to these matters. Many suppliers are involved
in activities to contribute to society, such as making donations to schools and
facilities for the elderly, in order to ensure harmony with their local communities. |
| ■ Overseas afforestation |
In its Tree Farm Initiative
for proactively cultivating sustainable resources for hardwood woodchips, Nippon
Paper Industries Co., Ltd. set a target of afforesting 100,000 hectares of land
by the end of 2008. At the end of September 2006, the Company had an overseas
afforestation area of around 104,000 hectares, reaching the target two years
ahead of the deadline. In the future, the Company will work on active operation
of the overseas tree-planting project for expanding the afforested land area
to 200,000 hectares as stated in the Group Vision 2015, prepared in 2005, to
move further ahead with the Tree Farm Initiative. |
| |
|
| * |
The Company and Marubeni Corporation have reached an agreement with International Paper Company to acquire all shares of Amapá Florestal e Celulose S.A. (Amcel), a Brazil-based subsidiary of International Paper. The acquisition process was completed by the end of December 2006. Amcel owns nearly 130,000 hectares of afforestable land, of which an approximate area of 62,000 hectares has already been afforested. After Amcel joins the Company's overseas afforestation project under the Tree Farm Initiative, the total area to be afforested has risen considerably, to around 166,000 hectares. |
| |
|
| ■ Forest certification of the
Company owned forests |
| |
Nippon Paper Industries Co.,
Ltd. has a goal of acquiring forest certification for all its own forests in
Japan and overseas by the end of 2008. |
| |
|
| • |
After South East Fibre Exports
Pty., Ltd., a subsidiary of the Company that produces and exports woodchips,
obtained the AFS forest certification in October 2006, the Company now has forest
certification for all of its own forests in Australia. |
| • |
The Company is striving to acquire
forest certification for its own forests in Japan under the original Japanese
scheme operated by the Sustainable Green Ecosystem Council (SGEC). In 2006, the
Company's own forests in the Chugoku and Shikoku regions and a part of Kinki
region obtained the SGEC forest certification. |
| • |
The Company will also be obtaining
forest certification for the afforestation land owned by Amcel. |
Acquisition of forest certification
for the Company owned forests
Overseas
afforestation projects
(by operating company) |
Country |
Forest
certification
(date of acquisition) |
| Forestco |
South Africa |
FSC (Apr. 30, 2003) |
| Volterra |
Chile |
Certforchile (expected) |
| WAPRES |
Australia |
AFS (Sep. 16, 2004) |
| VTP·VIZ |
Australia |
AFS (May 24, 2005) |
| SEFE |
Australia |
AFS (Oct. 18, 2006) |
| PTP |
Australia |
AFS (Jun. 30, 2006) |
| BTP·AAP·ECOT |
Australia |
AFS (Apr. 27, 2006) |
Company
own forests in Japan
(by region) |
SGEC cerfication |
| Hokkaido |
Obtained on
Dec. 1, 2005 |
| Tohoku |
To
be obtained in 2006-2008
However, certification for the Kitayama Forest in Shizuoka Pref. was obtained
on Dec. 25, 2003.
For Chugoku and Shikoku region and a part of Kinki region obtained on Dec.27,2006. |
| Kanto & Chubu |
| Kinki, Chugoku & Shikoku |
| Kyushu |
Obtained on
Mar. 24, 2005 |
Nippon Paper Lumber Co., Ltd. and Nanei, two subsidiaries
of Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd., obtain domestically produced materials.
To ensure compliance with the Green Procurement Law with respect to the legality
verification of lumber materials, Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd. requested
that these two subsidiaries responsible for collection to conduct a survey of
material suppliers with regard to their compliance efforts in the period from
July to September in 2006.
The survey revealed that 23% of the suppliers surveyed had already been certified
and that 15% of them had already filed or would be filing an application for
certification. In other words, at the time of the survey, roughly 40% of the
suppliers had the intention of verifying legality by means of certification obtained
from wood industry organizations*1. About half of the suppliers were outside
the scope of the legality verification as they dealt solely with sawmill residues.
The remaining 10% answered that they would verify legality by producing a notice
of logging or a document with the permit number.
It is only since October in 2006 that each prefecture has at least one examination
body that grants verification of legality. There has from the beginning been
a gap among areas in terms of the development of a system under which organizations
provide certification. Even today, there are still some suppliers that are waiting
to be examined and certified. Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd. will continue
to encourage suppliers to acquire certification from wood industry organizations
through its procurement subsidiaries. The Company will instruct those suppliers
which have yet to obtain certification to ensure verification of legality with
a notice of logging or other documents.
|
|
| Certification of suppliers by organizations |
| |
 |
* As of the end of Sep. when replies were collected |
| |
| Data on traceability are based on estimated
acceptances in calendar year 2006. |
|
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