FAQs

1 What is EUTR?

Ans: EUTR (European Union Timber Regulation) by FLEGT which The European Union Timber Regulation (EUTR) is one part of the EU’s FLEGT (Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade) Action Plan to help stamp out illegal logging worldwide. It prohibits the placing on the EU market of illegally harvested timber and products derived from such timber. It divides those dealing in wood or wood products into two categories - operators and traders.

2 How does EUTR affect Handicraft Exporters?

Ans: EUTR has resulted in Complexity of Requirements

Traceability of Wood Sources

Compliance with regulations

Complexity of supply chain

Market Access & Risk Management

3 What action has been undertaken by EPCH?

Ans: VRIKSH – An initiative taken by EPCH

To promote the responsible and legal use of wood in the handicrafts and home décor industry

To provide a viable solution to help the handicrafts exporters

To effectively deal with International Timber Regulation requirements

4 What is VRIKSH?

Ans: The EPCH “VRIKSH” Timber Legality Assessment and Verification Standard – India is intended for entities who want to accurately track and make claims about the legal origin and transport of their products.

5 What is legal sanction of VRIKSH?

Ans: Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts has been nominated as the nodal agency for issuing certificate on due diligence adopted by the exporters in procuring wood from legal sources for manufacture of Handicraft articles’

6 Who all are covered under VRIKSH?

Ans: Types of organizations that would be interested in utilizing this Standard include: • Forest/Harvest site manager • Harvester/Logger • Consolidator/Concentration Yard • Primary manufacturer Timber Supply Chain • Secondary manufacturer • Broker/Importer/Exporter • Retailer

7 What are requirements of VRIKSH?

Ans: Four aspects of legality to be covered under the ambit of this standard are: • Legal right to harvest and trade within legally gazetted boundaries • Compliance with legislation related to forest management, environment, labour and welfare, health and safety • Compliance with legislation related to taxes and royalties • Compliance with requirements for trade and export procedures

8 What is the frequency of assessment?

Ans: The assessments are carried out on an annual basis.

9 How does being VRIKSH certified ensure compliance with the EU Timber Regulations

Ans: The requirement of EUTR is Due Diligence which consists of (1) Information (2) Risk Assessment and (3) Risk mitigation. Due Diligence requires information on Legally Harvested Wood, Traceability and Compliance with Applicable legislation. VRIKSH certification ensures that these Due Diligence requirements are met by the organizations.

11 What initiatives other Asian countries have undertaken?

Ans: a. MYTLAS - Malaysia Initiative MYTLAS incorporates all the relevant legislation throughout the supply chain from the forest to the export point to assure legality of timber exports. It is subjected to annual third party compliance auditing, internal control mechanisms by the implementing agencies and supported by an effective governance structure. The MYTLAS license fully meets the requirements for due diligence under the EUTR for exports of timber products to the EU b. SVLK - Indonesia Initiative It promotes legality of forest products through implementation of standard legality to consumers, suppliers, and producers. It demands laws enforcement and good governance on forest products. It encourages private sectors (timber industries) to apply policies related with chain of custody or timber legality verification on supply of raw material.

12 How does VRIKSH ensure reduction in complexity of the supply chain?

Ans: VRIKSH ensures (1) Well documented process (2) Overcomes multiple authorities (3) Overcomes multiple languages; and helps in reduction in complexity of the supply chain.

13 What kind of raw material sources does VRIKSH covers?

: VRIKSH covers wood originating from (1) Government Forests (2) Agro forestry (3) Farm Forestry 4) Imported wood 5) Private Forests

14 Advantages of VRIKSH certification?

Ans: Buyers’ Benefits • Supports compliance with EUTR and other International Timber Regulations • Well documented process • Legality verification of diverse wood origin sources • Ensures traceability of material through delegated system Suppliers’ Benefits • Increased confidence of buyers • Increased market access due to ability to put certified products on market • World-wide presence through web based registry • Competitive advantage by product differentiation • Reinforce your brand image with on-product, third party certification labelling

15 What documentations are required during a VRIKSH audit?

Ans: An organisation needs to prepare the following documents and present them to the Auditor at the time of Audit. i. Organisational VRIKSH manual ii. Organisational Policy iii. Sales Invoice iv. Training records v. Suppliers’ list vi. Material balance records vii. Annual Volume summary viii. Company registration documents ix. Tax registration documents x. IE Code xi. Latest payment receipt (Sales tax/Income tax) xii. Risk Assessment xiii. All applicable Government requirements xiv. Document verifying legal origin of material 1. TP 2. Forest Pass 3. Sales invoice of farmers 4. Government Auction Records xv. Batch Accounting xvi. Outsourcing Agreement (if applicable)

16 How to categorise the material purchased (wood & wood products) as low/high/unspecified risk?

Ans: An Organisation purchasing wood and wood products need to classy them as being low/high/unspecified risk. This can be done in accordance with the following criteria for classification:

Low Risk	High Risk	Unspecified Risk
Wood purchased from government auctions and tenders	Wood purchased from non-credible sources	Indirect purchases from government auction
All FSC, PEFC certified wood, FSC Controlled wood, VRIKSH, CITES licensed wood, FLEGT licensed wood	Any wood source or supply line that cannot be supported by documentation	All other wood sources and supplies