Members’ Directory and Buyers’ Guide 2014
TTF Report by John White
Two notable highlights in 2013 were the coming into law of the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR) in March, and the Construction Products Regulation (CPR) in July. Both have already impacted on the industry, but it will probably be a few years down the line before we can properly assess whether they have put clear water between those who think responsible behaviour is for others, and those, such as TTF Members, who recognize responsible behaviour is key to growing the use of wood.
The EUTR of course bans the trade in illegal products, requiring importing companies (strictly speaking ‘first placers’) to undertake due diligence to assess whether the product imported into the EU carries any risk that it may come from an illegal source. Where it does, then risk mitigation is required. This is no more than one of the requirements of the TTF’s Environmental Code of Practice. It has been gratifying to see how seamlessly Members have moved to comply with the new law, in particular through the use of the TTF’s Responsible Purchasing Policy (RPP). The tool has prepared Members to embrace and embed a culture of due diligence at a product level. With feedback that we have received from the enforcement authority, the National Measurement Office (NMO), we continue to improve for and with Members the quality of the compliance. Our next phase of enforcing the due diligence clause within our Environmental Code of Practice will strive to ensure Members don’t just undertake due diligence, but use the information to pro-actively increase the proportion of credible legal and sustainable timber products. This is a good thing and cuts off at the knees accusations that the UK timber trade is not doing all it can to combat illegal logging and deforestation around the globe.
The CPR may not have been quite as dramatic but it has been equally important for the trade. For the first time there is an unavoidable requirement to ensure that construction products making claims about their performance under a European Harmonized Standard or equivalent, must carry through the supply chain the test evidence to support those claims. It is something we should do as a matter of course and making it law will again visibly distinguish the good from the bad, enhancing the TTF’s Members’ reputation in the eyes of their customers.
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We have continued to provide advice and guidance to Members on these and many other subjects.
The TTF has also been at the centre of the Timber Industry Accord. It may be a slow process but answering the supply chain’s desire for all the timber representative bodies to come together in some way to better represent the sector and the wonderful material on which it relies, has momentum. The arguments in favour of bringing this about quickly remain compelling.
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