Signing up to the Timber Trade Federation‘s Responsible Purchasing Policy is essential in creating a climate of trust between the timber industry and the market, the chairman of the Bristol Channel & Western Timber Association said this week.
Speaking at the association’s annual dinner in Bristol, Nigel Williams said that the RPP opened up “significant opportunities” to trade with environmentally conscious buyers.
“RPP offers members of the Timber Trade Federation the chance to work together, using our collective strength and purchasing power, to make significant environmental improvements to the supply chain,” said Mr Williams.
If timber companies wanted to secure lucrative contracts in the public sector and larger private sector projects, RPP was an indispensable tool, he said.
As a director of Premier Forest Products, which was cited in the recent Greenpeace report on Chinese plywood, Mr Williams had seen the benefits of employing the RPP.
“If Premier had put in place our RPP before the Greenpeace action, we would have been in a much stronger position to prove our adherence to the TTF Code of Conduct,” he said. “Our membership of the TTF underlined, incontrovertibly, the need for Premier to implement and sign up to the industry’s RPP.”
The 2012 Olympics provided a huge opportunity for the timber industry and the RPP would be instrumental in demonstrating that using TTF member products was the best way to guarantee legal and sustainable timber sourcing, he said.
