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11.12.2020
On the occasion of the two-year presentation of the (French) National Strategy to Combat Imported Deforestation (SNDI), Bérangère Abba, Secretary of State to the Minister of Ecological Transition, in charge of Biodiversity, brought together the SNDI monitoring committee on 18 November. This event brought together around a hundred participants, including ATIBT and LCB.
The major advances in France's strategy to combat deforestation can be broken down into four main areas: traceability (confidential alert mechanism for companies), the commitment of major companies (signing of a manifesto), public information (internet information platform) and a public procurement policy (guide). We propose to zoom in on this last axis:
The "zero deforestation public purchasing guide" (accessible below) has been finalised and will be distributed to 130,000 public purchasers, in the catering, transport (with biofuels), building / furniture and supplies sectors, so that they can check their supplies and choose responsible products. It should be remembered that public procurement represents 10% of GDP in France. This guide therefore does not focus only on wood and emphasises the commodities derived from agriculture (soya, palm oil, cattle grazing...). It has no binding scope, it takes the form of recommendations (practical sheets) for public procurement, and will be accompanied by a communication campaign aimed at local authorities.
As mentioned by Diane Simiu, Assistant to the General Commissioner for Sustainable Development of the Ministry of Ecological Transition (MTE), the guide aims to implement the 10th measure of the circular of 02/25/20 "which aims to integrate into public tenders provisions on taking into account the risk of deforestation" and to "draft standard clauses to support public purchasers and secure their procurement procedures".
Download the public procurement guide
In the section devoted to building/furniture, the guide focuses on the use of timber in construction "carbon storage in building components" and highlights eco-certified woods.
The guide will be revised periodically, so your comments can be passed on to the MTE. Don’t hesitate to contact on that subject : a.negri@lecommercedubois.fr
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