An across the board performer

A year on, and the UK trade seems to have measured up well in implementing the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR).

After initial concerns over the legislation imposing new administrative burdens, our vox pop of traders and EUTR auditors indicates that the vast part of the industry has managed its introduction well. Most 'operators' (firms which first place timber on the EU market) say that they were, in fact, already undertaking the supplier risk assessment the Regulation requires, and it has been more a question of aligning existing procedures.

In the National Measurement Office (NMO), the UK also has a sensitive and business savvy EUTR enforcement agency, or Competent Authority. It has not gone in all guns blazing, with the primary goal of getting prosecutions under its belt. It has found some companies undertaking insufficient due diligence, but dealt with this without dragging them to court. But its principal focus to date has been to work closely with businesses to establish a benchmark for illegality risk assessment due diligence, and to build up its understanding and intelligence of the industry.

According to the NMO's Michael Kearney, an advantage the timber sector has had in dealing with the EUTR, compared to others affected (furniture, retail and paper) has been the focused communications effort from the Timber Trade Federation (TTF), plus its existing Responsible Purchasing Policy (RPP) due diligence system, which it has aligned with the Regulation.

Following this successful implementation phase, the NMO says it is now primed to target illegality high-risk areas, with the systems and knowledge to ensure effective enforcement action. And in this it seems to have the full support of the majority of the timber trade and the TTF, which says it will back the NMO to the hilt in prosecutions.

In the final analysis, the bona fide industry wants to see the illegal trade, and the damage it does to timber's image, stopped. Observance of the EUTR is increasingly seen as a valuable tool both for doing that and to be seen to be doing it by customers and the wider public.

But, while the trade can justifiably congratulate itself on the way it has tackled the Regulation, and the eco credits this should bring, some urge caution against the industry focusing overly on its green credentials.

"EUTR compliance is valuable PR, but we are already strongly homed in on our environmental story," said a trader. "We risk being perceived as a one club player - the Toyota Prius of materials; never mind the looks and performance, feel the eco-friendliness."

The positive here is that there are moves under way to underline timber's broader properties and educate specifiers on its potential. In March at Ecobuild, Wood for Good unveils its Wood First Plus database, an online resource covering technical and environmental aspects. The aim, to make building professionals and manufacturers comfortable and confident in specifying and using wood.

The sector is also stepping up efforts to improve engineers' timber education. Last year, Edinburgh Napier University launched a scheme for timber companies to sponsor MSc timber engineering students. Now the TTF is funding the Timber Industry Research Focus Group, which is dedicated to raising levels of timber engineering R&D and teaching at UK universities, to the tune of £25,000. Match funding could boost that ten-fold. The pay-off should be a new generation of engineers who know that timber is not just green, but also a high-performance, diverse and versatile construction and manufacturing material.