The European Union Timber Regulation (EUTR) entered into force on the 3 March 2013 in the UK.
It is a new legal obligation for European businesses to ensure timber products they use have not been illegally sourced. The ramifications of the EUTR for buyers are significant, but some businesses need to wake up to the regulation.

It does not impact raw timber importers in isolation – it has an impact on all business users of timber products. This is a huge category, spanning items from fuel logs and prefabricated buildings to furniture and packaging. If a tree has been involved somewhere in your supply chain, the chances are high the EUTR will impact your business.

While the EUTR applies to all business users and sources of timber products, the majority of enforcement action will focus on those who first place a product on the European market through commercial activity, known in the regulation’s lexicon as ‘operators’.

Operators will need to conduct due diligence to demonstrate products are from a legal origin. Extensive explanations of a competent due diligence process can be found in a variety of sources, such as the UK government’s Central Point of Expertise on Timber Procurement, but smart operators will now be sourcing goods demonstrating compliance through supplied information.

To comply, businesses may increasingly turn to certified products, such as those sourced through the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) or similar initiatives. While schemes such as these demonstrate relatively low risk, operators will still need to demonstrate the supplied product is covered by the given certification and the organisation is capable of offering assurance of legality.

A recent report exposed up to 30 per cent of the global timber supply is illegal, evidence that illegal logging requires a unified response from the initial producer all the way through to final consumer. By closing the European market to illegal timber, the EUTR is a major step forward and one that that the wider supply industry should unite behind.