Lathams to get first FLEGT licensed timber

14 November 2016


James Latham is set to take delivery of one of the first shipments of FLEGT-licensed timber products to the EU from Indonesia early in the New Year.

The company says the Flamebreak tri-laminate, solid core hardwood door blanks from manufacturer Kutai Timber Indonesia (KTI) are due to arrive in January.

Indonesia and the EU jointly announced in September that the former would be the first country under the EU Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade Voluntary Partnership Agreement initiative (FLEGT VPA) to issue FLEGT licences for exports of timber and wood products.

Under a VPA, countries agree to implement a range of measures to combat illegal logging and trade; setting up legality assurance, monitoring and auditing frameworks, improving forest governance and increasing stakeholder engagement.

Once these steps are taken and approved, goods can be FLEGT licensed, which exempts them from further due diligence under the EU Timber Regulation, effectively giving them a fast track into the EU market.

KTI is one of four companies taking part in a special ceremony in Jakarta on November 15 to mark departure of the first licensed shipment.

“We’re delighted to be the first in the UK to offer FLEGT licensed Flamebreak door blanks from KTI,” said Chris Sutton, Lathams Ltd chairman and managing director.

“We continually strive to be at the forefront of environmental best practice and only source materials from suppliers operating within the laws of their country and that have made positive moves towards only stocking material originating from sustainable and correctly managed forests, in particular FSC and PEFC certified products. The addition of FLEGT licensed timber from KTI strengthens our environmental offering even further.”

“This initiative has involved several agencies working for many years towards shipping FLEGT licensed timber,” said Shaun Hannon of UK Flamebreak agents Pacific Rim Wood Ltd.

“As KTI’s biggest UK Flamebreak customer, we nominated James Latham to be responsible for the first shipment.”