Forest ResourcesAction Plan for Wood-based Raw Material Procurement
Efforts relating to Foreign-source Materials
■Procurement System
Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd. procures woodchips for use as raw materials for pulp and paper from approximately 20 foreign suppliers, including some affiliates. These chips are purchased mainly through trading firms. These suppliers are known to be reliable partners with whom we have done business for a number of years.
■Description of Efforts Made
(1) On a boat-by-boat basis, document verifications are performed to ensure that the "area where the wood was harvested and the supplier of the wood are in compliance with relevant laws, and that no illegally harvested wood is included."
(2) Suppliers are surveyed annually in detail with respect to the following:
Applicable laws and regulations, and the suppliers' compliance with those laws and regulations
The classification of forests, their ownership, and the status of forest certification
Considerations given to human rights, labor, and society
Conservation of biodiversity, ecosystems, and soil and water resources (3) The same survey and confirmation procedures that apply to woodchips are also conducted regarding imported pulp.
Efforts relating to Domestically Produced Materials
■Procurement System
Nippon Paper Lumber Co., Ltd., the subsidiary of Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd., obtain domestically produced materials used as raw materials for pulp and paper from approximately 750 suppliers.
■Description of Efforts Made
(1) Nippon Paper Lumber Co., Ltd. is authorized by a lumber-related organization to be in compliance with the law. The company supply Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd. with materials that are certified to be in compliance with the law.
(2) Nippon Paper Lumber Co., Ltd. not only verify that the materials purchased from suppliers are in compliance with the law, but also obtain the following types of information about each of the suppliers:
Name and address of the supplier
Whether the supplier is certified by an industry organization
Description of the materials (thinned wood, sawmill residues, domestic materials, imported materials, hardwood, softwood)
Considerations given to labor and the environment
(3) Verification is also performed with respect to domestically produced pulp so as to ensure that neither illegally harvested wood nor wood that poses a threat to the environment is included.
Measures to Ensure that Materials are Procured in Conformity with the Procurement Policies
■Document Retention
Relevant materials are retained for five years. When there are separate document retention requirements imposed by the Commercial Code or other laws, the legal requirements supersede the company rules. Furthermore, these materials are disclosed in the event that they are needed for audits and other similar purposes.
■System of Investigations and Audits
(1) Employees of Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd. are stationed in all countries that are major sources of woodchips, including Australia, Chile, and South Africa. The employees witness the loading of chips onto boats and verify the quality of raw materials received. In addition, they gather information about the operations of suppliers, as well as information on the social conditions in the local areas.
(2) The raw materials department at each mill periodically inspects the subsidiaries that handle the procurement of domestic materials so as to ensure that domestic materials meet legal requirements, and that the subsidiaries properly gather information about their suppliers. In addition, these departments and subsidiaries conduct similar inspections of affiliated chip mill.
(3) Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd. plans to use a third party to conduct audits to ensure that wood-based materials are procured in conformity with the company's policies. The company hopes to gain objective third-party evaluations of its efforts and plans to press forward with the recommendations received.
■Disclosure of Audit Findings and Other Information
The contents of audits by a third party, the findings of the company's in-house investigations, and other important information will be presented in the company's sustainability reports and on this Website.
* Certification regarding the Verification of Legality: This is consistent with the Guidelines for Verification of Legality and Sustainability of Wood and Wood Products (February 15, 2006) of the Forestry Agency, set forth in the Basic Policy on Promoting Green Purchasing in connection with the Law Concerning the Promotion of Procurement of Eco-Friendly Goods and Services by the State and Other entities. Member organizations of the Japan Federation of Wood Industry Associations and other wood industry organizations certify a business after reviewing the controls on sorting of woods whose legality has been verified and other document controls that are exercised by the business. Certified businesses can sell wood whose legality has been verified by displaying the certification number granted by the certifying industry organization.
