Archived press release

Cabinet enforcer cunningham breaks Government policy on sustainable timber

27 August 1998

Cabinet Enforcer, Dr Jack Cunningham - the man charged with ensuring a consistent Government policy throughout departments - has bought a conference table and chairs made from unsustainably sourced Brazilian mahogany, and supplied by loggers who have been frequently fined for operating illegally in the Brazilian Amazon. The purchase, reported to cost 15,000, breaks a recently stated Government pledge "to ensure that hardwood procurement policy across all departments accords fully with the Government's policy on the conservation and sustainable use of timber species". There are no sustainable sources of Brazilian mahogany [1], and Timbmet, the company that imported the mahogany, admits that the certification it supplies is no guarantee of sustainability [2].

FOE has obtained the export certificates for the Brazilian mahogany, which names the logging company supplying some of the timber as Peracchi - a company with a long history of illegal trading, and which has been fined on a number of occasions [3].

Last month the then environment minister, Angela Eagle, pledged action after Friends of the Earth exposed the fact that the Ministry of Defence had been repairing its ships with Brazilian Mahogany. In a letter to FOE (22 July) she said "we are most concerned to ensure that hardwood procurement policy across all Departments accords fully with the Government's policy on the conservation and sustainable use of timber species...In view of this, and following consultation with the other main Departments concerned, I have asked officials to review current policy on hardwood procurement across Government as a matter of urgency. The aim will be to ensure that all Department's adopt a common position on this, and one which reflects the importance we attach to the sustainable use of natural resources and species conservation."

The table and chairs, which are due to be delivered in October have been bought from Arthur Brett and Sons, who purchased the timber from Timbmet.

Sarah Tyack, Forest Campaigner at Friends of the Earth said:
"We are astounded that Dr Cunningham has bought Brazilian mahogany to refurbish his office. This only serves to make a mockery of their so called sustainable timber policy. At no point were the Cabinet provided with certificates of sustainability to help them justify this frivolous purchase. We have written to

Mr Cunningham asking him to specify a truly sustainable timber for his table,and to assure everyone that Brazilian mahogany will no longer be bought by his,or any other, Government Department until sustainable sources of Brazilian mahogany can be guaranteed."

ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS:

[1]Virtually all the UK's mahogany comes from Brazil and the UK is the world's second largest importer. The UK timber trade relies only on voluntary agreements and industry-generated self certification schemes in order to assure consumers that mahogany is legally and sustainably agreed. It is generally accepted that there are no sustainable sources of mahogany although an independently certified source of Swietenia Macrophylla in Belize is currently being trialed.

[2]Timbmet, one of the largest mahogany dealers in the UK supplied the mahogany to furniture company Arthur Brett and Sons Ltd. In a recent letter to Friends of the Earth (dated 30 July 1998) Timbmet stated:"Timbmet does not tell its customer that we buy timber from sustainable sources; we have a policy specifically of not doing this. We in fact explain that independent certification is the only guarantee that timber is from a sustainable source and that the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) is the only system of independently certifying timber at this stage".

[3]Perrachi has been fined by the Brazilian Environment Agency (IBAMA) for illegal logging and in 1992-94 was expelled from indigenous reserves by the legal actions of the Indians. All of Perrachi's management plans were suspended or cancelled following an IBAMA inspection in 1996. Three have since been reinstated.

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