Timber Risk Score: 31 / 100 in 2017. The Timber Legality Risk Assessment contains an evaluation of the risk of illegality in Chile for five categories and 21 sub-categories of law. We found:
- Specified risk for 14 sub-categories.
- Low risk for 4 sub-categories.
- No legal requirements for 3 sub-categories.
This page provides an overview of the legality risks related to timber produced in Chile.
Around 23 % (17.4 million ha) of Chile is covered by forests, of which:
- Approximately 30% is primary forest
- Approximately 53% is naturally regenerated forest
- Approximately 17% is planted forest
The forestry sector contributed US$ 7.6 billion to the economy in 2011, which is about 3.3% of the GDP. In 2015, roundwood production totalled 58.8 million m3.
Several legality risks are present in Chilean timber supply chains. The risks relate to legal rights to harvest, taxes and fees, timber harvesting activities and trade and transport. If you are sourcing timber from Chile you should take care to ensure the risks identified are not present in your supply chains, or have been sufficiently mitigated.
Score: 67 / 100 in 2021
Rank: 27 out of 180 countries in 2021
There are currently no armed conflicts in Chile according to the Council on Foreign Relations' Global Conflict Tracker
CITES appendix I: Araucaria araucana, Fitzroya cupressoides, Pilgerodendron uviferum
FSC Certified Forest Area: 2,333,045 hectares (4 December 2019).
PEFC Certified Forest Area: 1,915,479 hectares (31 December 2019).
Information Gathering
Timber sources
- Find out the different sources of legal timber
- Determine which source type your timber comes from
Timber source | Description of source type |
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Exotic plantations |
Timber from plantations of non-native species, mainly of pine and eucalyptus, as well as non-timber forest products. The following are required: A Timber Extraction Contract for extracting timber. |
Native forest |
Timber from native forests. The following are required: A native forest management plan approved by CONAF, or an Environment Impact Assessment/Statement approved by the Ministry of the Environment (Ministerio de Medioambiente. An approved management plan to harvest or manage the forest. Exceptionally, with the respective management plan, small quantities of logs for pulpwood or sawnwood can be removed from reserves. |
Risk Assessment
Risk assessment summary
Legal rights to harvest
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Taxes and fees |
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Timber harvesting activities |
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Third parties' rights
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Trade and transport |
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Risk Mitigation
Mitigate the risks in your supply chain
- Learn which actions we recommended to mitigate the risks associated with the timber sources from Chile.
Source Certified Materials
NEPCon believes that third party certification (for example FSC and PEFC certification) can provide strong assurances of the legality of the products they cover. Companies seeking to mitigate the risks of sourcing illegal timber should seek to purchase third party certified materials wherever possible.
While the European Timber Regulation does not include an automatic “green lane” for certified products, it does recognise the value of certification as a tool for risk assessment and mitigation. The European Commission says that companies “may rate credibly certified products as having negligible risk of being illegal, i.e. suitable for placing on the market with no further risk mitigation measures, provided that the rest of the information gathered and the replies to the risk assessment questions do not contradict such a conclusion.”
For more information on using certified materials in your due diligence, including how to assess whether a certification system meets EUTR requirements, see the page on Certification and Due Diligence.
Mitigation recommendations
Below is a summary of our recommended actions to mitigate the risks associated with timber sources from Chile.
1. Fully map your supply chain
- Our supply chain mapping tool can help you do this.
2. Obtain and verify documents
- Forest level documents
- Maps showing harvesting areas (in compliance with the harvesting plan indicating UTM coordinates of the area)
- Harvesting plan (http://www.conaf.cl/centro-de-documentacion/)
- Proof of payment for management plan (for land preferably suited to forestry)
- Forest management plans
- Certificates indicating compliance with forest obligations (can be requested from CONAF)
- Certificate of delivery upon completion of harvesting work (Acta de entrega tras la finalización del trabajo de aprovechamiento)
- Information from geo-positioning and management plan map to ensure that forest operations do not take place in conservations areas
- Updated lists of protected endangered species for producers (see Inventario nacional de especies de Chile, http://especies.mma.gob.cl/CNMWeb/Web/WebCiudadana/pagina.aspx?id=87
- Free transit guide (Guía de libre transito) applicable for native forest verification
- Tax related documents
- Receipts for payments of harvesting-related royalties, taxes, harvesting fees and other charges. Check that volumes, species and qualities given in sales and transport documents match the paid fees
- VAT declaration statement (Certificado de declaración de IVA)
- Proof of payment of land tax for forest property (for land not preferably suited to forestry) (Comprobante de pago de impuesto territorial en caso de predios forestales no calificados como de APF)
- Income tax certificate or tax certificate (Certificado de renta o tributario)
- Absence of fines from the Internal Tax Service, Customs guards or CONAF (www.sii.cl) (Ausencia de multa por parte del SII, Carabineros o CONAF)Consult open cases in the Tax and Customs Courts, http://www.tta.cl/default.aspx
- Health and safety related documents
- Official audit reports on occupational health and safety are available, based on national standards.www.minsal.cl (transparency portal).
- Employment related documents
- Insurance company safety reports
- Labour inspection reports.
- Certificate of compliance with labor and Social Security obligations, http://www.dt.gob.cl/1601/w3-article-59889.html
- Trade and transport documents
- Shipping guides, Invoices and Associated Contracts (Guía de despacho, facturas y contratos asociados)
- All transport documents must exist and be documented and be clearly linked to the material specified in the commercial process and be correctly classified (type, custom code, species, quantities, qualities, etc.)
- Import and exports permits
- CITES permit
3. Consult stakeholders
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- Personnel and contractors confirm that:
- Legally required protective equipment is provided by the organisation.
- All those involved in forestry operations are covered by the social security and work risk system and work, according to what the law stipulates.
- Occupational safety and health training has been conducted.
- Forest Workers Confederation confirms that legislation on employment, and health and safety is complied with: http://ctf-chile.blogspot.cl/
- Authorities (including the Ministry of Health, www.minsal.cl/salud-ocupacional/) confirm that the requirements on health and safety regulations are complied with and that required safety equipment is used (www.minsal.cl). This is particularly important for small producers
- Authorities confirm if forest administrators have any sanctions or non-compliance against their name
- Personnel and contractors confirm that:
4. Carry out on-site verification
- Confirm that the contractors have a Timber Extraction Contract for standing or sawn timber for the area in question.
- Confirm good harvesting practices on agricultural land
- Confirm that harvesting is conducted within the authorised boundaries of the plantations and/or native forest management plan (Planes de manejo de plantaciones y/o bosque nativo)
- Confirm tree species or selected trees found within the forest areas and plantations comply with the technical requirements in the management plan
- Confirm that harvesting restrictions are observed in the field
- Confirm that legal established procedures for surveying, managing and protecting endangered or threatened species within the management unit are followed
- Confirm that no harvesting is done in protected areas like SNASPE- National State System of Protected Areas (Sistema Nacional de Áreas Protegidas del estado), and AAVC
- Confirm that specific protected areas are not affected, such as water sources, vulnerable species habitats, etc.
- Confirm that information in the inventory matches the planned and conducted harvest.
- Confirm that established control and corrective measures comply with the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
- Confirm compliance regarding security in the workplace
5. Conduct targeted timber testing
- Conduct timber testing on samples of purchased material to verify the species or origin of timber, where appropriate
6. Avoid / do not buy
- Avoid products that include materials bought at spot- and/or open-markets