LegalSource by Preferred by Nature
LegalSource evaluation involves third-party assessment of due diligence procedures established to manage the risk of sourcing illegal forest products. The assessment is carried out against the LegalSource Standard which has been developed to be aligned with regulations that are in place in some of the world’s leading timber markets, such as the EU Timber Regulation, the US Lacey Act and the Australian Illegal Logging Prohibition Act. LegalSource certification helps in reducing the risk that the company is found to be in violation of legal requirements for timber product sourcing that may apply to its busines.
Preferred by Nature applies the LegalSource Standard which sets out the LegalSource requirements for producing and sourcing legally harvested timber. The LegalSource Standard is also used for supplier evaluations and for benchmarking companies' own sourcing policies and due diligence systems, including identification of potential gaps compared to the EUTR or other legislations. The LegalSource Standard has been developed in line with the ISEAL Code of Good Practice for Setting Social and Environmental Standards, where transparency and stakeholder involvement are high on the agenda.
Preferred by Nature (Previously NEPCon) is a non-profit organization based in Copenhagen, Denmark, with a global network that promotes and delivers sustainability certification services.
Remarks: By the integration of the Rainforest Alliance certification business in October 1, 2018 (including all related services, personnel and clients) to Nepcon, the former timber legality verification systems VLO/VLC proposed by Rainforest Alliance is not existing anymore for wood and forest products.
Without FLEGT or CITES licence, LegalSource certification is no “green lane” to the European Union. Importers of LegalSource timber products need to prove they implemented a due diligence, where they may use LegalSource procedures.