Photo by flickr/rvibek

Resources

Key documents

• VERIFOR Concept Paper - The legal basis for verification systems - standard setting for legal compliance (PDF, 254kb)
• VERIFOR Briefing Paper 8 - Multi-stakeholder processes: Lessons for the process of timber verification (PDF, 345kb)
• Presentation to VERIFOR Experts Meeting on Legality Standards, April 2006 (PDF, 113kb)
• Fitting the pieces of the jigsaw together: Legality and Sustainability. Presentation at the eleventh Chatham House Illegal Logging International Update Meeting, January 2008

Legality standards are clear and unambiguous sets of rules for determining compliance.

VERIFOR's work explores the role, content and development of legality standards for verification in the forest sector. It discusses the key principles of standard setting and the questions these pose in terms of scope, content and process. It also aims to highlight questions relating to the status of legality standards in standing for applicable laws and regulations, as well as to issuances of certificates of compliance.

Key areas of debate
- see resources for full discussion

• In defining the scope of a legality standard, how might the balance be struck between legitimacy (incorporating social standards) and its applicability?
• What happens whenthere is an insufficient basis in national law for incorporating for social and environmental standards that certain stakeholders may regard as essential?
• To what extent do legality standards risk excluding small-scale producers, e.g. due to the high costs of compliance?
• What are the processes by which a legality standard should be developed, to ensure adequate buy-in and policy closure?
• Might a focus on legality imply a different kind of process from initiatives to agree C&I for SFM?
• What is the legal status of a legality standard, and who is liable if determinations of compliance with such a standard prove to be inaccurate?