Indonesia is one of the world’s largest producers and exporters of timber and wood-based products, and for over a decade, the country has built one of the most rigorous timber legality assurance systems: the Sistem Verifikasi Legalitas dan Kelestarian (SVLK), i.e., the Timber Legality and Sustainability Verification System. Within SVLK, one specific component matters enormously for processors, traders, exporters, and importers of wood products: Verifikasi Legalitas Hasil Hutan (VLHH) Kayu di Hilir, commonly referred to as VLHH Hilir, or downstream timber legality verification. 

SIP’s Verification Service for VLHH Hilir. SIP operates as an independent verification body conducting VLHH Hilir assessments in accordance with the approved standards. As with any accredited verification body, SIP’s role is to independently assess a business’s conformity against the applicable standard, i.e., not to advise on or design the systems being assessed, to preserve the impartiality that gives the resulting certificate its credibility. Businesses within SIP’s scope of accreditation can apply for VLHH Hilir verification through SIP’s standard certification process, covering document review, field verification, independent decision-making, certificate issuance, and periodic surveillance as described above.

Contact SIP to initiate a VLHH Hilir certification application.