§ 21. Ian LucasTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she will take to ensure that timber procured by Government is from well managed, sustainable sources. [55135]
§ Mr. MorleyThe Government is actively engaged in implementing its policy of seeking to procure its timber and timber products from sustainable and legal sources, DEFRA is monitoring progress and will be issuing further guidance to central government departments and their agencies.
§ Mr. Peter AinsworthTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the Government adopted their timber procurement policy. [54438]
§ Margaret Beckett[holding answer 7 May 2002]: The Government's current timber procurement policy became a binding commitment for central Government Departments and their agencies with effect from 28 July 2000, following a written reply to a parliamentary question on that day by the Minister for the Environment, Official Report, column 947W. This followed the G8 summit earlier in July 2000, where in response to a UK led initiative members agreed to consider how public purchasing could help reduce illegal logging. Prior to the policy becoming a binding commitment it had been part of the model policy for greening government operations since 1997.