Legality Assurance System (LAS)

Once legality has been defined, a system needs to be put in place to ensure that only timber identified as legal enters the system. Therefore a traceability system, also known in FLEGT language as ‘Legality Assurance System’ or LAS, is an intrinsic part of the VPA. This is explained in the Loggingoff presentation ‘What are FLEGT VPAs’ and in the EU briefing note number 4. 

The LAS spells out the laws and the verifiers and indicators that will be used to monitor whether those laws are enforced as well as the systems used to trace timber through the supply chain, to ensure that timber from unverified operations is separated from other timber. Such systems could include the developing of (electronic) tagging systems that allow to monitor where the timber is in the supply chain and reconcile input and output. The legality is then verified by export consignments, and if positive will receive a FLEGT license if export is destined for the EU.

The LAS is subject to continuous verification and to ongoing independent audits by the independent auditor.