Legality
In the wood sector, legality policies are a top priority. Illegal logging has been a common practice in many parts of the world, causing severe environmental and social problems in the countries that have suffered it. We flatly refuse to participate in this practices that have caused deforestation, depletion of the earth’s resources and the reduction of our planet’s bio diversity, in addition to establishing the poor working conditions that come with an unregulated industry.
By applying our strict legality policies, we participate in building a responsible forestry sector, ensuring the future of all wood species and promoting sustainable economic growth.
All of Madinter’s wood comes from legal forestry. We ensure that all our suppliers and our business relationships with them comply with all local and international laws.
CITES, EUTR and Lacey Act
In addition to complying with local and international laws that apply to trade, business relations, working conditions or any other aspect of our activities, there are international laws that are specific to the wood industry, such as CITES, EUTR and the Lacey Act. These laws regulate the trade of raw wood and wood products, such as musical instruments.
At Madinter we are experts on these laws, and we offer legal advice to our customers on how to follow these laws that can affect their businesses.
CITES
CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is an international treaty to protect animal and plant species that are endangered or could become endangered globally or locally. Some of the wood species that are used for making musical instruments are controlled by the CITES convention. Depending on the species, manufactured products, such as guitars, also require a CITES permit to be sold or bought.
EUTR
The EUTR (European Union Timber Regulation) is a law that aims to counter illegal logging and associated trade in timber and timber products in the member states of the European Union. The EUTR prevents the entrance of illegal timber in the European market and, therefore, it is applied the first time the wood enters the European Union. The EUTR is applied to raw wood and to some wood products, such as flooring, paper and plywood, but it is not applied to the trade of finished musical instruments.
Sustainability
We want to guarantee the future of all wood species and work in a timber industry that respects the earth’s forests and biodiversity. Beyond fulfillment of the law, there are many other actions that we can undertake to ensure the conservation and regeneration of the natural resources that we work with.
Forest management
A forest is a living being. A correct forest management can not only maintain the natural regeneration of the forest, but also improve its health, prevent fires and manage its biodiversity. Sustainable forest management practices are also important in economic growth and sustainable development.
Increasing wood yield, reducing waste
Wood is nature’s gift and, therefore, it must be treated with the utmost respect. We are constantly improving the techniques and technology that we use to cut and store our wood to increase wood yield, reducing consumption of raw material.
Raising awareness
By offering sustainable products and information to our customers, we bring their attention to some of the environmental problems that the wood industry is facing. Thanks to this, we are raising the standards of our customers and we are seeing an increase in their demand of sustainable, certified woods.
Certification
Certification is an evaluation process that a Management Unit or forestry company undergoes voluntarily, performed by an independent third party (certification entity) through field audits and consultation work among all stakeholders.
This process investigates the company and it determines that complies with the legality and sustainability standards of the certification entity. Certification gives the consumer a guarantee from a third party and makes the company’s processes and protocols more transparent.
Certification may take place both at forestry regulation and product levels.
Certification of sustainable forest regulations
A forestry company can undergo a certification process to certify that it makes a sustainable use of forests, maintaining their biodiversity, productivity, regeneration capacity, vitality, and their potential to fulfill, now and in the future, relevant ecological, economic, and social functions, and that its activities do not cause damage to other ecosystems.
Sustainable Forest Management Certification encompasses forestry inventory, regulation planning, forestry, and exploitation, as well as ecological, economic, and social repercussions of forest activities.
Product certification
Chain of Custody Certification consists of the follow-up of all the changes of custody of forest products and their byproducts during logging, transportation, transformation, and distribution chain from the forest to the final user. This is the certification that Madinter has had since 2008, and it is obtained through the FSC® (Forest Stewardship Council®).The certification entity that evaluates us is NepCon.
Our FSC® letter
