Procurement and EHS Principles

AF&PA Sustainable Procurement Principles

1. Take part in the Sustainable Forestry Initiative® program as a program participant; or

2. Adhere to the following principles:

1. Support programs that supply regionally appropriate information or services to forest landowners, describing the importance of and providing implementation guidance on best management practices (BMPs); reforestation; afforestation; visual quality management; management of harvest residue; control of invasive exotic plants and animals; characteristics of special sites; and conservation of critical wildlife habitat elements and threatened and endangered species, and Forests with Exceptional Conservation Value.
2. Encourage landowners to utilize the services of qualified resource professionals and qualified logging professionals in applying principles of sustainable forest management.
3. Maintain a program for the purchase of raw material from wood producers that have completed training programs and are recognized as qualified logging professionals.
4. Maintain a program to address adverse weather conditions.
5. Monitor and evaluate the use of BMPs across the wood and fiber supply area.
6. Monitor the use of BMPs by wood producers supplying the company’s facilities and use the information to maintain rates of conformance to best management practices and to identify areas for improved performance.
7. If the company procures wood fiber outside North America, maintain programs to:
   • Promote conservation of biodiversity hotspots and major tropical wilderness areas.
   • Ensure fiber sourcing programs support the principles of sustainable forestry, including efforts to thwart illegal logging.
   • Assess the risk that fiber-sourcing programs could acquire material from illegal logging.
   • Assess the risk that fiber-sourcing programs could take place in countries without effective laws addressing worker safety, fair labor practices, indigenous people’s rights, antidiscrimination, anti-harassment, prevailing wages, and worker’s right to organize.
8. Individually and/or through cooperative efforts provide support or funding for forest research to improve forest health, productivity, and sustainable management of forest resources, and the environmental benefits and performance of forest products.
9. Provide funding and other support for training and education programs to foster improvement in the professionalism of wood producers, including awareness and implementation of sustainable forest management practices.
10. Comply with applicable federal, provincial, state, and local forestry and related environmental and social laws and regulations.

3. Participate in one of the qualifying sustainable forest management programs, including chain-of-custody certification.

AF&PA Environmental, Health & Safety (EHS) Principles

The EHS Principles require members:

• To make environmental, health and safety considerations priorities in operating existing facilities, as well as in the planning of new operations.
• To recognize, in developing and designing products to meet customer needs, the environmental, health and safety effects of product manufacture, distribution, use, and disposal.
• To monitor their environmental, health and safety performance and to report regularly on these matters to their Boards of Directors, as well as to confirm their adherence to these principles annually to the American Forest & Paper Association.
• To train employees in their environmental, health and safety responsibilities and to promote awareness and accountability on these matters.
• To improve environmental, health and safety performance through support of research and development that advances the frontiers of knowledge.
• To communicate with employees, customers, suppliers, the community, public officials, and shareholders to build greater understanding on environmental, health and safety matters.
• To participate constructively in the development of public policies on environmental, health and safety matters.
• To continue to pursue energy conservation, increased energy efficiency, greater utilization of alternatives to fossil fuels, and opportunities for cogeneration of electricity.

Learn more about our member companies’ corporate reporting and EHS policies below.