The Rainforest Alliance offers forest product companies voluntary independent third-party verification of legal status for the sources of raw materials for their products. We are recognized by Greenpeace International as the top-ranked verification program.
Overview of the Rainforest Alliance Legality Verification
Rainforest Alliance recognizes the need for companies to apply a gradual approach to verification, which is why we offer a two-tiered system to legality verification: Verification of Legal Origin and Verification of Legal Compliance.
Verification of Legal Origin
Verification of Legal Origin (VLO) verifies that timber comes from a source that has a documented legal right to harvest, pursuant to the laws and regulations of the government of the jurisdiction. Suppliers of VLO timber must follow and maintain documented chain-of-custody systems.
Verification of Legal Compliance
Verification of Legal Compliance (VLC) expands upon the basic component of VLO by verifying that timber harvesting complies with a broader range of applicable and relevant laws and regulations related to forestry.
It is important to recognize that "legal origin" is not the same as "legal compliance." Legal origin is about meeting the administrative requirements of permitting, planning, taxes or fees, and harvesting in defined areas. Legal compliance encompasses a broader range of laws on environmental protection, wildlife, water and soil conservation, harvesting codes and practices, worker health and safety, and fairness to communities.
Legality verification services are available both to forest management enterprises as well as to companies producing and selling wood products and to companies wishing to verify the sources of products they purchase. Learn more about the verification processes for forest management enterprises and the wood processing industry.
United States Lacey Act and the European Union Due Diligence Regulation
Achieving Rainforest Alliance legality verification supports companies in their work to demonstrate due care/due diligence in their sourcing of wood and wood products. Such demonstration of due care can assist companies in reducing the risk of importing, exporting or trading illegal timber, acts which are now punishable by law in the United States as per the amendments to the Lacey Act.
Similarly the EU have recently adopted regulation that bans imports of illegal wood and require companies that import wood into the EU to implement a Due Diligence system. Learn more about the EU Due Diligence regulation.
A Phased Approach to FSC Certification
These verification services can involve audits of forest areas, but do not result in Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification. The Rainforest Alliance considers legality verification as a first step towards FSC certification only. We therefore require that verified organizations undertake activities to attain full certification. For forest managers who wish to enter into a formal stepwise approach to FSC certification, we offer support and third-party evaluation of progress towards this goal through our SmartStep program.
The Rainforest Alliance Legality Verification Program has been designed to be applicable to forest sources (forest management enterprises), processors, manufacturers, traders, and suppliers of wood products within a Supply Chain or verified as a single entity.
The process of verification may include the following steps:
Legality Assessment and Monitoring: For those companies that buy a variety of wood products from a number of suppliers and producers and who may not know forest product sources and associated risks, you may need to perform an analysis of your wood product Supply Chain. By working with our SmartSource Program your company can avoid illegally harvested wood and procure more non-controversial and certified supply. Once you know the risks and opportunities, you can establish a responsible purchasing program and work with your supply chain to obtain legality verification and/or certification and monitor progress in this regard.
Legality verification for forest managers: This option is for organizations that directly manage forests and want to provide the extra assurance to the market that their timber products are legally harvested and traded. Regular on-site audits of the forestry operation against the VLO or VLC standard for are required for maintaining verification status. Legally-required documents will be controlled against on-the-ground practices and verified to be in accordance with applicable legislation before the Rainforest Alliance Verified Mark™ and claim can be used.
Legality verification for processing industry and traders: this verification is intended for all forest products manufacturers and forest product traders who want to demonstrate their wood products originate from legal sources and that they operate legally. It requires regular on-site auditing against the VLO or VLC Standard for Chain of Custody to determine the integrity of documentation and procedures for identifying and tracking verified wood throughout processing and trade. Sometimes this will require audits of specific upstream suppliers and forests that do not already have a VLO or VLC Verification Statement.
Groups and Multi-Site verification: multi-site verification allows for the grouping of multiple sites to be covered under the scope of a single Verification Statement. This option is most applicable to organizations with the capacity to manage and oversee larger supply chains. Multi-site or group verification allows more flexibility in adding and removing sites from the scope of the verification, and reduces the overall cost of verification per unit.
How to Apply for Verification
Verification of a candidate operation can occur in isolation (a single FMU or processing facility) or as part of a more complex supply chain including several sources and/or processing facilities. The Rainforest Alliance will verify Chain of Custody back to the forest source through all entities included in the scope of the specific supply chain.
The steps for participating in the Rainforest Alliance's VLO and VLC services include the following:
-
Applicant completes the Rainforest Alliance verification application and returns it to the Rainforest Alliance regional representative in his/her area.
-
Based on the application, Rainforest Alliance will supply the applicant with a proposal to carry out a verification of the company facilities or wood sources as identified.
-
Based on a mutual agreement, Rainforest Alliance will then move to the actual on-site verification audit as also outlined in our client guides for forest management enterprises and the wood processing industry, respectively.
Please contact us with any questions you may have.
The generic Verification of Legal Origin (VLO) and Compliance (VLC) standards are global in scope and are applicable to forest managers, traders, producers and suppliers of forest products either as individual companies or as parts of a defined supply chain. Regionally- or nationally-adapted standards are developed for the legal frameworks specific to the areas in which they are applied. These standards will follow the framework of our generic legality standards and will be adapted to account for relevant laws, regulations, acts, and decrees defined for the given jurisdiction. These versions will draw from existing multi-stakeholder processes or definitions of legality, as they exist, and will be developed through consultation with stakeholders. We actively solicit comments on these standards and appreciate your input. Links to these VLO/VLC standards are organized by country and region below.
Standards and Policies
Generic Standards
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Third-party verification that establishes the legality of forest products traced to their source. Legal origin evaluates the level of compliance related to administrative requirements of permitting, planning, taxes or fees, and harvesting in defined areas. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Third-party verification that establishes the legality of forest products traced to their source. Legal compliance encompasses applicable laws relevant to environmental protection, wildlife, water and soil conservation, harvesting codes and practices, worker health and safety, and fairness to communities. |
|
|
|
|
Country and Region Legality Standards
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rainforest Alliance Standard for Verification of Legal Compliance (VLC)
July 22, 2011 [English | 中文 (Chinese)] |
Rainforest Alliance Standard for Verification of Legal Origin (VLO)
January 30, 2010 [English | 中文 (Chinese)] |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rainforest Alliance Standard for Verification of Legal Origin (VLO)
February 9, 2010 [English | Bahasa] |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rainforest Alliance Standard for Verification of Legal Origin (VLO)
August 16, 2010 [Spanish] |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rainforest Alliance Standard for Verification of Legal Origin (VLO)
February 19, 2008 [English] |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rainforest Alliance Standard for Verification of Legal Origin (VLO)
February 25, 2010 [Português] |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rainforest Alliance Standard for Verification of Legal Compliance (VLC)
February 9, 2010 [English] |
Rainforest Alliance Standard for Verification of Legal Origin (VLO)
February 9, 2010 [English] |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rainforest Alliance Standard for Verification of Legal Origin (VLO)
October 27, 2010 [English] |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rainforest Alliance Standard for Verification of Legal Origin (VLO)
June 1, 2010 [English]|[Laotian] |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rainforest Alliance Standard for Verification of Legal Origin (VLO)
November 17, 2010 [English] |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rainforest Alliance Standard for Verification of Legal Origin (VLO) - DRAFT FOR PUBLIC CONSULTATION
October 24, 2011 [English] |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Democratic Republic of Congo |
|
|
Rainforest Alliance Standard for Verification of Legal Origin (VLO)
December 9, 2011 [Français] |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Timber Legality Verification Service Policies
|
|
|
|
|
|
VLO and VLC Verification Service Policies
[English] |
|
|
|
Verification Service Policies: Rainforest Alliance policies related to legality verification (VLO/VLC) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Advice Notes and Guidance
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
VLO-VLC Client Guide to Services for Forest Management Enterprises |
|
|
|
A short guide for existing and potential forest management enterprise clients describing the background and procedures of VLO and VLC verification. [English | 中文 (Chinese)] |
|
|
|
|
|
VLO-VLC Client Guide to Services for Processors |
|
|
|
A short guide for existing and potential processing industry clients describing the background and procedures of VLO and VLC verification. [English | 中文 (Chinese)] |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
To apply for Rainforest Alliance's timber legality verification services:
-
In North America, South America (except Brazil), Central America and the Caribbean, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific region, fill out our application form in English or Chinese and return to the Rainforest Alliance regional representative in your area.
-
In Europe, Russia, Turkey and Israel, contact our partner NEPCon.
-
In Brazil, contact our partner IMAFLORA.
Find out how you can use the Rainforest Alliance verification mark.