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CPET activities
February 2008
Jenny McInnes, Marigold Norman (Defra) and Rachel Butler (CPET) attended the February TTF Forests Forever meeting. We updated members on the recommendations that have been put to Ministers on how the new policy will be interpreted and implemented. The recommendations followed Reference Board meetings where stakeholder comments from the consultation held last year were considered. Once decisions are made the new policy guidance will be published in April 2008.
We also outlined the Defra/CPET implementation strategy which was based on recommendations borne mainly from the Construction Sector Pilot Study. In the coming month the final report will be published. The CPET study found that while there is some widespread awareness of the UK timber procurement policy, implementation varies across the government estate. The report identifies opportunities for embedding the policy and proposes a reporting structure to collate timber data.
In May the 3rd biennial review of certificaiton schemes will commence. During the February Reference Board meeting the methodology was discussed and will shortly be made public when it has been finally signed off. The re-assessment will focus on the changes that the schemes have made since the last review conducted two years ago. A Technical Review Panel will be convened to score the criterion and make recommendations to Defra. The results are expected in September.
The Reference Board welcomed a new member, Julia Young from WWF, who is our guest writer this month replaces Beatrix Richards who is currently on maternity leave. Minutes from the meeting are available here.
CPET and Defra have produced a Briefing Note that gives an overview of the policy, how it began and what influence and impacts have been the result. A copy will be available for download on the CPET website shortly.
The last bit of news is that I (Rachel Butler) am leaving CPET & ProForest to take up new challenges within the international timber policy arena. I have enjoyed my short time here and wish CPET well, so it is bon voyage! The main point of contact for CPET will be Sofie who can be contacted on sofie@proforest.net or 01865 243 766.
Kind regards Raich
