Forestry and resource management operational policy team
Cabinet has agreed to replace the Forests (Legal Harvest Assurance) Amendment Act 2023 with a redesigned system.
Further information about the redesign
We've released a document that summarises the submissions we received on this consultation.
The Forest (Legal Harvest Assurance) Amendment Act 2023 will introduce legal harvest assurance into law through the Forest Act 1949.
The purpose of legal harvest assurance is to:
Legal harvest assurance focuses on the conduct of people trading in regulated timber and specified timber products. This ensures there is a person accountable for due diligence to minimise the risk of illegally harvested timber entering the supply chain. It does not provide assurance that any specific timber item or consignment has been legally harvested.
The consultation discussion document set out proposals for the operational detail to be made as regulations and notices. These proposals were built on the feedback we received on issues papers in 2024. The issues papers tested assumptions and sought views on the options we considered for these operational details.
For this consultation, we sought your views on proposals for the operational detail. Consultation ran from 28 November 2024 to 26 February 2025.
Operational detail for the legal harvest assurance system – discussion document [PDF, 3 MB]
Issues paper one: The legal harvest assurance framework [PDF, 4.4 MB]
Issues paper two: Implementing the legal harvest assurance framework [PDF, 5 MB]
As a trading nation, New Zealand has made a commitment to combat trade in illegally harvested timber. Trading partners are also implementing systems to combat illegal harvesting and associated trade. Examples include the Lacey Act in the United States of America, the European Union Timber Regulation (EUTR) in the European Union, and the Illegal Logging Prohibition Act in Australia.
Illegal harvesting is considered a low risk in New Zealand. However, a growing number of markets are asking exporters, including New Zealand exporters, to demonstrate their timber and timber products have come from legally harvested sources. Some markets will only accept government assurance that timber has been legally harvested.
Without effective and efficient legal harvest assurance in place, New Zealand exporters may risk losing market access. This would cause significant economic impact for the forestry and wood processing sector and broader New Zealand economy.
New Zealand also has the opportunity to reduce the risk of illegally harvested timber being imported into New Zealand, or traded within New Zealand. This will provide consumers with increased confidence that they are not contributing to the trade in illegally harvested timber.
Find out more about the forestry legal harvest assurance system
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Official Information Act 1982 – NZ Legislation
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