Supply chain support

Evaluation of your suppliers helps you to assess and address the risk of illegal timber in your supply chains.

Wood industry facility in China.jpg Supplier evaluation permits you to assess and control the risk that your suppliers' products contains illegal timber.

The evaluation process facilitates good communication with your supplier around these issues. It also builds your suppliers' competencies, enabling them to better support your due diligence efforts.

When is supplier evaluation needed?

You may need supplier auditing if you are sourcing from countries with high risk of illegal harvesting and high corruption levels. In such regions, it is risky to rely on official documents alone, unless the products are verified under a credible scheme.

Get started

Key steps

We are happy to offer a non-binding quote for conducting supplier audits on your behalf. You can receive a free non-binding service quote by filling in our service request form or by contacting us.

Before you decide to engage on supplier verification, you may need to go through these steps:

1. Determine if you need supplier evaluation. On-site supplier verification is effective in identifying and addressing risks of sourcing illegal timber, but can be labour intensive and normally involves transportation costs. Before you engage on supplier verification, we recommend you to first explore if there are other, more cost-effective ways of obtaining the assurance you need.

2. Decide if you need external assistance. You may want to conduct on-site supplier evaluation yourself, which is perfectly legitimate. Your capacity and the complexity of the task are important factors in determining the best approach. If you wish to set up an in-house auditing function, we can provide capacity building for your appointed legality auditors.

The service process

If you choose to engage with us for supplier evaluation, the process will normally run as follows:

	Service scope: You define the scope of the evaluation including suppliers and products to be covered. You enter a formal agreement with suppliers included in the scope, permitting us to conduct the evaluation.
	Your suppliers' preparation: At your request, we can assist in communicating with your suppliers about the process and coordinate directly with them around the audit schedule. We can also provide online training for your suppliers in advance of the evaluation.
	Evaluation: The evaluation includes interviews, document reviews and on-site inspection. Supplier evaluations are normally carried out on-site. However, in certain cases desk evaluation may be sufficient depending on the type of risk involved.
	Report: We provide initial oral feedback to you and your supplier. We then prepare a report describing our findings. The report covers any identified non-conformities or gaps and includes recommendations for follow-up actions.

Your options

Choose service level and scope

The scope of the supplier evaluation is entirely determined by your needs. Depending on your suppliers' role in securing your due diligence, the evaluation may cover aspects such as:

Your suppliers' access to required information.
Your suppliers' conformance with your due diligence requirements.
The quality of risk assessments carried out by your suppliers.
The effectiveness of your suppliers' risk mitigating actions.

Working Your choice of types and number of products to be covered will often depend on your trade conditions. For example, you may want to limit the scope to products that are covered by the EUTR.

With our established global network of experts, we can cover any number of suppliers and supply chains in most regions of the world.

If you are engaging with us for LegalSource evaluation or certification of your own organisation, we will normally agree on the scope of any supplier verification services during audits conducted on your premises.

Opportunity for capacity building

LS training We recommend combining supplier evaluation with targeted training. This enables your suppliers to take an active role in supporting your due diligence process.

We can provide online training prior to or after the on-site visit. Alternatively we can deliver face-to-face training during the visit.

Our experience

Our credentials

Expertise. Our due diligence competence is recognised by the EU. Other organisations often enlist our help, for example, to conduct analyses or tailored training on timber legality aspects.
Experience. We provide LegalSource services to a growing customer base worldwide. Our FSC services include regular verification of legal harvesting in over 66 million hectares of forest land and an annual chain of custody auditing of over a thousand companies.
Industry insight. We are familiar with all types of business in the timber supply chain. This is based on over 25 years of delivering FSC services to forest enterprises and a wide range of companies.
Global reach. Our international network of Preferred by Nature experts is complemented by strategic partner alliances. We offer verification conducted by local auditors in most timber exporting countries. Local LegalSource auditors speak the relevant language and are familiar with the conditions and legislation that apply in the country.

Additional value of engaging with us

Supplier competence. The evaluation builds your suppliers' understanding of your requirements. We take care to explain the basis for our questions and why we ask for specific documentation and information. To strengthen this aspect, you may opt for supplier training.
Evaluation report in user-friendly format. Our report includes a detailed description of all findings and explains the basis for our conclusions and recommendations. It uses clear language and is easy to navigate.
Safe process. Full confidentiality guaranteed. Any sensitive information obtained during the evaluation process is kept safe. Our auditors are bound by strict agreements and we are using secure data platforms to protect your confidentiality.

Your benefits

Five benefits of engaging in third-party supplier evaluation

Depending on the evaluation's purpose and scope, supplier evaluation may bring the following benefits:

	Improved efficiency. By enlisting a competent expert, you save in-house resources whilst being sure to receive a qualified output.
	In-house capacity. Your own quality control staff or internal auditors will learn from the evaluation process. This facilitates you to integrate due diligence requirements in your own supplier evaluation programme.
	Evaluation of your suppliers' access to information. More often than not, your suppliers are key to ensuring you have access to information as required by the EUTR.
	Evaluation of your suppliers' conformance with your due diligence requirements. We evaluate the validity and comprehensiveness of the information and documentation presented by your suppliers. This helps you to identify gaps in information or documentation that constitute risk, and provides a good basis for communicating with your suppliers about the actions that they need to take.
	Enhanced supplier relations. Supplier evaluation forms an excellent basis for creating a road map to safe sourcing even from suppliers based in high-risk areas or dealing in high-risk products. It helps you to make informed decisions on risk levels, identify appropriate risk mitigation measures, and ultimately build stronger relations with suppliers who are able and willing to collaborate with you around due diligence.