March 2013 saw the introduction of the new EU timber regulations to prevent illegal timber being sold in the European market. Since the implementation of the scheme companies involved in the timber and timber product supply chain must have either, introduced systems to ensure compliance, or ensured that the systems already in use are compliant.

The guidelines are pretty broad and the European Commission and member states are still trying to find the best ways to police them.

At Soundcraft we’ve always sustainably sourced; it’s just the way that we do things and our processes didn’t require any changes to meet the new guidelines. We are 3rd party certified with Exova BM Trada for chain of custody under the FSC® and PEFC schemes.

Putting more emphasis on the responsibility of manufacturers of timber products for the chain of custody involved in bringing timber into the UK is probably a sensible thing to do. However, there must be concerns about those involved in purchasing fully understanding, what, if any, the implications of the guidelines are. It will certainly be more difficult for cheap, illegal timber to enter the UK market; but the unscrupulous will always be with us.

In short, to make sure that your timber windows and doors conform to the new regulations these two very simple considerations will help:

  1. Make sure that your requirement is for legal and sustainable timber and that this is clearly specified from the beginning of the project: specify 3rd Party Certified timber under the FSC® or PEFC schemes.
  2. Choose your supplier carefully.
  • Can they demonstrate the processes in place to ensure full PEFC or FSC® chain of custody?
  • How do they choose their timber suppliers to ensure the best quality? Do they have the correct third party accreditations?
  • Are they a member of the Timber Trade Federation, or other recognised bodies; and are they part of the ‘responsible purchasing scheme’?

The new EU timber regulations are good news for promoting the use of legal and sustainable timbers. But at this stage there are doubts about how effective policing the regulations will be. And how many companies will get caught out by retrospective requests for chain of custody documentation?

You can find out more about the update at Trada here EU timber regulation requirements.