Source · Select Committees · Environmental Audit Committee
Recommendation 13
13
Acknowledged
Require all acquired forest-risk commodities to be certified as sustainably produced under GBS.
Recommendation
We recommend that the GBS require all acquired forest-risk commodities (in addition to palm oil, timber and paper) to be certified as sustainably produced. (Paragraph 41) The UK’s proposed due diligence system under the Environment Act 2021
Government response summary AI-generated
The government will focus statutory reviews on scheme effectiveness and is exploring how to address the role of indigenous peoples in forest preservation within the independent evaluation of the scheme.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government · verbatim extract
Acknowledged
We agree that public sector food and catering is a powerful lever to support the transition to a healthier, more sustainable food system. The current Government Buying Standard for Food and Catering services includes mandatory requirements for all palm oil to be sustainably produced and that at least 50% of coffee is fairly traded. It also sets a best practice standard that all coffee and cocoa is certified as fairly traded. The Government is currently undergoing a wide-scale review of the Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering services and consulted on possible changes to public sector food and catering policy in the summer of 2022, including whether palm oil, soy, cocoa, and coffee should be demonstrably legal and sustainable. We are considering the outcomes of this consultation and how they can be best taken forward. Under the timber procurement policy, all timber products procured for use on the Government estate must meet the policy’s standards of legality and sustainability. We will consider the approach to forest-risk commodities when other relevant Government Buying Standards are next updated.
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