News

30/06/2011

Kai Wah and Altripan achieve first ever VLC verified supply chain in China

In June, plywood company Suzhou Kai Wah Wooden Co., Ltd, nominated for the TTAP project by ALTRIPAN,received the first Verification of Legal Compliance (VLC) certificate in China from the certification body SmartWood of the Rainforest Alliance.


The VLC standard means that in addition to the requirements for the Verified Legal Origin (VLO) standard, 
supplementary evidence of environmental and social compliance was also verified by the independent auditor.
The significance of this is that the verified scope of product flowing through the Kai Wah Altripan supply chain 
now falls in line with Europe's definition of legality and demonstrates that risk mitigation measures have been
taken by the buyer to meet the requirements of the recently approved Timber Regulation (TR).
Centred in Dangshan County, Anhui province some 600km south of Beijing, the Kai Wah verified legally compliant
supply chain currently includes three poplar farmers, three peeling mills and the assembly mill.

Kai Wah with assistance from TFT through the TTAP project developed the necessary systems and procedures
to successfully comply with the new China VLC standard. The Chain of Custody system was implemented to ensure
that the production of Kai Wah's VLC raw material and product is not mixed with raw material from non-VLC sources
from the forest source and through the subsequent processing stages to export. Each site in the supply chain was then
evaluated by Rainforest Alliance auditors in April 2011 and the verification statement was issued on June 13.
Altripan N.V. (Belgium) is retaining the sole exclusivity of the sales for the VLC products produced by Kai Wah.
In order to expand their product scope Kai Wah and Altripan together with TFT are continuing to work with
additional forest sites and species within China as well as abroad, further demonstrating their commitment to 
sourcing responsible forest products through a process of risk management and mitigation. 
Upon completion of this work Altripan will be confident that their panel products are fully compliant with
the Timber Regulation that becomes operational in March 2013.

Rainforest Alliance drafts new VLC standard for China
In order to assist suppliers and buyers demonstrate compliance with the TR, TFT and the Rainforest Alliance
worked together in the drafting of the VLC standard for China. The audit of Kai Wah was the first occasion that
this standard was used and now paves the way for other companies wishing to demonstrate their credentials through
third party verification of legality to use and maintain access to global markets that are increasingly demanding
assurances of legality of timber products.