The certification standard does not go into detail in all areas covered by UK legislation. The appendix of references provides a non-exhaustive list of relevant legislation.

Certification bodies will be checking that there is no evidence of non-compliance with relevant legal requirements including that:

• Management and workers understand and comply with all legal requirements relevant to their roles and responsibilities
• All documentation including procedures, work instructions, contracts and agreements meet legal requirements and are respected
• No issues of legal non-compliance are raised by regulatory authorities or other interested parties.

In the event of a perceived conflict between the requirements of the certification standard and legal requirements, owners/managers should seek guidance from the UKWAS Interpretation Panel.

The appendix of references provides further information on good practice guidelines and codes of practice.

Conformance to the spirit means that the owner/manager is aiming to achieve the principles set out in relevant codes of practice or good practice guidelines and that:

• Management and workers understand and conform to the spirit of codes and guidelines relevant to their roles and responsibilities
• All documentation including procedures, work instructions and contracts conform to the spirit of relevant codes and guidelines.

In the event of a perceived conflict between the requirements of the certification standard and relevant codes and guidelines, owners/managers should seek guidance from the UKWAS Interpretation Panel.

Long-term unchallenged use might be demonstrated by the existence of previous grant scheme documentation or long-term certification to this standard.

Examples of circumstances which may affect the scope of the owner’s/manager’s legal rights to manage the WMU and to harvest products and/or supply services from within it include:

• The sporting or mineral rights are held by third parties
• The owner/manager is bound by a restrictive covenant
• The WMU is managed under a forestry-only lease.

See the section on third-party rights in the introduction.

Depending on the nature of woodland operations, the competent authorities providing legal authorisation may include the relevant forestry authorities, statutory nature conservation and countryside agencies, statutory environment protection agencies, statutory historic environment agencies, or local authorities.

Legally prescribed charges connected with forest management may include fees for licences or permissions, or grant repayments where grant conditions have not been fulfilled.

Unresolved disputes of substantial magnitude involving a significant number of interests will normally disqualify an entity from being certified.

Examples of relevant tenure claims and use rights may include:

• Water supplies
• Joint access routes
• Shooting rights.

Workers, licensees and leaseholders should be informed of the aim of the certification standard and, to the degree that is relevant, of the practical implications for them in carrying out their activities. This might be done through, for example, meetings or briefings and the provision of appropriate written material.

If a substantial failure has led to withdrawal of a woodland certification to this standard in the past, then substantial changes in ownership, policy commitment and management regime should have been implemented or a two-year track record of conformance established.

Advice to owners/managers

Owners/managers may be subject to additional requirements from their certification scheme relating to any adjustment of the area in the woodland management unit. Owners/managers are advised to seek guidance from their certification body or group scheme manager.

Guidance on procedures to prevent bribery is available from the Ministry of Justice.

The owner/manager should comply with any relevant phytosanitary movement licences and other statutory plant health requirements.

In rare cases the provisions of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) may apply. The import, export and use for commercial gain of certain species requires a CITES permit. CITES species present in the UK include Snowdrops (Galanthus spp.) and Monkey-puzzle (Araucaria araucana).

The phrase ‘reasonable measures’ means measures that are both within the law, within the terms of any forestry tenancy and within the jurisdiction of the owner/manager and that the measures are economically viable and environmentally and socially acceptable.

The scope of illegal activities which the owner/manager may encounter is so diverse that it is not possible to prescribe actions in every case.  In specific cases a legal opinion may be required in order to prescribe ‘reasonable measures’.

GMOs are created through gene transfer under laboratory conditions and are not the product of tree breeding, vegetative propagation, cloning or tissue culture programmes.