EU Timber Regulations
EU Timber Regulations 3rd March 2013 includes timber decking
Is your decking illegal? Is it certified – FSC or PEFC, it matters not as all timber has to be accounted for from March 3rd 2013.
The EU Timber Regulation comes into force in the UK on 3rd March 2013. It bans illegal timber in the EU and requires anyone handling wood or wood products to assess the risk that those products may have come from an illegal source and acts to mitigate that risk. This is known as due diligence and, like all due diligence, it must happen before you buy the product. It has to be undertaken even if the product is certified.
For the most up to date information please contact the TTF Timber Trade Federation.
What is “due diligence”?
The core of the ‘due diligence’ notion is that operators undertake a risk management exercise so as to minimise the risk of placing illegally harvested timber, or timber products containing illegally harvested timber, on the EU market.
The three key elements of the “due diligence system” is as follows:
Information: The operator must have access to information describing the timber and timber products, country of harvest, species, quantity, details of the supplier and information on compliance with national legislation.
Risk assessment: The operator should assess the risk of illegal timber in his supply chain, based on the information identified above and taking into account criteria set out in the regulation.
Risk mitigation: When the assessment shows that there is a risk of illegal timber in the supply chain that risk can be mitigated by requiring additional information and verification from the supplier.
For the complete EU directive go here.
