The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) joined 10 other organizations this spring in announcing the formation of the Forest Legality Alliance (FLA), created to support efforts to reduce trade in illegally harvested wood.In 2008 the U.S. government amended the Lacey Act to prohibit trade in the United States of products made from illegally harvested wood. The Alliance is a global multi-stakeholders initiative open to businesses, industry associations, financial institutions and civil society organizations with a stake in legal forest product supply chains."Retailers are committed to sourcing legally harvested wood in the products they sell," said Stephanie Lester, vice president of international trade. "RILA sees the Forest Legality Alliance as an opportunity to work with other stakeholders to tackle the problem of illegal logging in a manner that protects forests around the world while also addressing the challenges of identifying illegal wood in supply chains." The Alliance will focus on the capacity for legal trade in the sector as a whole, rather than on the performance of individual companies, and complement existing initiatives that certify legality and sustainability. The objective of the Alliance is to:
Other founding partners and members include the World Resources Institute (WRI), the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the American Paper & Forest Products Association, the Hardwood Federation, IKEA, the International Wood Products Association, NewPage Corporation, Staples Inc., and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.