§ Mr. ReedTo ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office (1) if she will ensure that paper and timber products purchased by her Department are independently certified by the Forest Stewardship Council as coming from a sustainable source; [110195]
(2) what steps she has taken to ensure that paper and timber products purchased by her Department come from a sustainable source. [110194]
§ Mr. Ian McCartneyThe Cabinet Office purchases paper and timber products which come from sustainably managed sources, in line with environmental guidance prepared by HM Treasury and the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions.
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) label is accepted by buyers as demonstrating that timber and timber products have come from sustainably managed sources. However, it is not practicable to require that all paper and timber products purchased by the Cabinet Office are independently certified by the FSC because this might discriminate against any equally valid schemes and therefore be against public procurement. Specifying just the FSC label might also result in us failing to meet all our requirements as currently only a small percentage of timber products are currently FSC certified.