Spreading the EUTR word

He knew nothing about the EUTR, so I broadly told him it was an EU-wide crackdown on the illegal timber trade, with penalties probably ranging from fines and withdrawal of the right to trade, to gaol for serious offenders. He asked if it would hit supplies of his staple tropical timber, and what the fallout would be if he was caught with anything illegal.

Depending on the quote he gives us, I may or may not tell him that the EUTR is, in fact, focused on what it terms 'operators', traders which 'first place' timber on the EU market, compelling them to undertake due diligence illegality risk assessment of all their suppliers. Their customers must keep adequate records of what they buy from them, and who they sell it to. But it's the operator who carries the can if their due diligence isn't up to scratch and they're found trading in illegal material.

Until recently, my scare tactics might have worked on a wider spread of the timber sector. There was a large degree of confusion and some ignorance about the EUTR, with information about it from Brussels slow in coming and often unclear or contradictory. But now, as our tropical timber focus further highlights (p20), things have changed.

For tropical 'operators', the EUTR probably poses the greatest challenge of all, given that so many of the suppliers they have to risk assess for illegal material getting into their supply chain are in emerging economies. But even they today seem largely unfazed at the prospect of its introduction next March 3.

This is not to say the issues and grievances with the legislation are all resolved. With just five months to go before the law comes into force, Brussels is roundly criticised for not yet confirming some crucial final detail. The general guidelines are still at consultation stage, many countries, including the UK, have yet to implement the regulation in their own law, and penalties are still not finalised.

There is also scepticism as to whether the EUTR will be uniformly implemented in all 27 EU states and more criticism of Brussels for not clarifying what will be done if some fall short.

There are fears, too, that smaller tropical suppliers will not be able to cope with the due diligence paperwork from their EU customers - and one company saw this as such an issue it suggested delaying introduction of the EUTR another year. And there is also an education job to be done for operators' customers and their customers down the supply chain.

But the operators themselves tell us that they are now pretty much up to speed. Their due diligence systems are in place - with many using the Timber Trade Federation's (TTF) Responsible Purchasing Policy - and they say that the TTF has also performed an invaluable role with its ongoing EUTR workshops educating the trade and the wider market.

They have also taken it on themselves to inform suppliers and customers about what they do and don't have to do under the regulation and they say that, while there's some way to go overall, and agreement that some suppliers may not be up to speed in time, the messages are increasingly getting through.

The view is also growing that, ultimately, the EUTR will do timber good, tropical and otherwise, by emphasising the trade's dedication to stamping out illegal material. Sadly, that could even make it good news for annoying sash window repairers.