HC Deb 10 March 2000 vol 345 cc835-6W
Mr. Reed

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he has taken to ensure that paper and timber products purchased by his Department come from a sustainable source. [110155]

Mr. Ingram

The Government Purchasing Agency follows the guidance issued by the Secretary of State in his Policy Statement on Green Housekeeping, which closely follows the model policy statement.

The Government Purchasing Agency has established contracts for the purchase of paper and timber products on behalf of the NICS, Departments, their Agencies and NDPB's.

The contracts require that where virgin pulp is used it must come from sustainably managed woodlands.

More guidance is available to buyers from the DETR's Green Guide for Buyers, which is available to all our staff on the Internet.

The Agency also issues to all our tenderers, the booklet "Selling to Government—A Green Guide for Suppliers of Goods and Services to the Northern Ireland Civil Service" which sets out the requirements for paper and wood products in more detail.

Mr. Reed

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will ensure that paper and timber products purchased by his Department are independently certified by the Forest Stewardship Council as coming from a sustainable source. [110156]

Mr. Ingram

The 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 Department are independently certified by the Forest Stewardship Council because this might discriminate against any equally valid schemes and therefore be against procurement rules.

Specifying just the FSC label might also result in us failing to meet all our requirements as currently only a tiny percentage of timber products are currently FSC certified. That is why the Department's policy statement for greening its operations suggests that evidence of sustainability might take the form of a certificate issued under a credible, preferably independent, verification scheme; or other documents which demonstrate the operation of an environmental management system incorporating forest management criteria that conform with internationally recognised principles such as the Helsinki Guidelines.