The latest summary report of certification content in U.K. timber product imports was published by the Timber Trade Federation (TTF) in April 2017. The analysis, based on data derived from TTF member companies for the year 2015, shows certified, sustainable material at a record high of over 90% of imports by TTF members.
TTF members account for roughly 85% of the total UK market for imported timber (including logs, sawn wood, decking, mouldings, veneer, plywood and other panels).
The report shows year-on-year growth in certified products to an unprecedented level of 90.2% of total volumes.
The report notes that of the remaining, uncertified, 10% there are large volumes of hardwoods purchased from North America and Africa, both areas where traditional certification is less apparent. There are also large volumes of panel purchases coming from China.
Within this 10%, TTF members are conducting supply chain, species and country risk assessments as part of the due diligence process required both for the EUTR and the TTF Responsible Purchasing Policy (RPP). Therefore, risk within the supply chain for uncertified timber is adequately managed.
The report notes that there is a significant and increasing business-to-business demand for certified products in the market. Despite the progress by members, TTF note that "this demand can prove difficult to meet from traditional source countries and regions and at times can prove detrimental to timber being specified as a material".
With this in mind, the TTF indicates that their policy is not to exclude uncertified products and that it is "committed to helping demonstrate the sustainability criteria of wellmanaged, uncertified sources, for instance newly FLEGT licensed Indonesian products and North American timber etc".
The report provides insights into the relative share of different certification frameworks in the UK market.
Softwoods as a product group are fairly evenly split between FSC and PEFC, however FSC dominates tropical hardwood timber purchases. Of the 50% of tropical hardwood purchases that were certified, nearly 97% of that was FSC - the remaining 3% comprising MTCS/PEFC certified timber from Malaysia.
The high levels of certified product traded by UK TTF members is partly a reflection of the products and supply countries involved - dominated by primary and secondary wood products and mainly derived from European countries where there is a high proportion of certified forests.
TTF note that the level of members trade in, and certification proportion, in more complex products such as doors and engineered flooring is also rising, but is still a long way behind sawn wood products. Overall certification of panel products and further processed products remains low.
TTF members also do not include UK importers and retailers of wood furniture - a sector which evidence shows still comprises a large proportion of uncertified supply. This is due both to the lower level of corporate commitment to sustainable timber procurement amongst furniture buyers and to the greater complexity of products and supply chains.
