Timber Trade Federation focuses on due diligence

The Timber Trade Federation (TTF) is the leading trade association in the UK representing the interests of those involved in the timber industry. It is committed to growing the use of wood through innovative and high quality representation to politicians, industry and customers.

Over the past few years the TTF has been reinforcing the environmental credentials of wood. Through its Forests Forever campaign, the Federation promotes the unarguable environmental advantages of wood and wood products and acts as the environmental voice of the timber industry.

Recently, the TTF has gone one step further and its members have voted to make environmental due diligence a condition of membership. John White, Chief Executive of the TTF, explains why the industry took such a bold step.

“The profile and attention received by the timber industry on sustainability issues on
the global political scene is very high with climate change, issues of poor governance
and deforestation dominating debate. As an industry we have a product that can tick all the environmental boxes – it is endlessly renewable and it absorbs and stores carbon. In fact, it is the best weapon we currently have against climate change and we should be using as much of it as we can. Whilst many companies use existing certification schemes to demonstrate legality and sustainability, we need to go further where they don’t exist and prove that we are sourcing our timber responsibly.”

As part of its commitment to helping its members deliver on due diligence requirements,
the TTF has relaunched its flagship due diligence tool, the Responsible Purchasing Policy. This
tool is in line with the European Commission proposal to introduce a regulation on the
importing of timber into the EU. The current progress suggests that within the next year the
regulation will be agreed and all member states will have a two year time period in which to
implement the regulation.

The Responsible Purchasing Policy (RPP) is a risk management tool, which helps a company
assess products for evidence of legality and sustainability of supply, as well as encouraging
suppliers to improve their sourcing practices.

Each member using the RPP is independently audited by an accredited certification body,
with the aim of increasing the amount of independently verified legal and sustainable timber entering the UK market.

There is little doubt that the industry is facing an exceptionally tough time, but, as we have said consistently over the past few years, due diligence is vital not only to the long-term profitability of the industry, but also at the core of its immediate success or failure.

Financial issues will clearly be at the forefront of companies’ minds at the moment, but we would be failing in our duty as a trade federation if we didn’t prepare members for possible future EU legislation on due diligence, which now appears to be close at hand.

While the TTF is justifiably proud of the RPP, it hopes that eventually there will be no need for it. As John White explains: “The UK imports the majority of wood it uses, with around 85% coming from expanding sustainable European forests. The majority of wood now used (about two thirds) is fully certified under schemes such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) or the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC). We hope that eventually all wood will meet these standards and that there will be no need for the RPP.

“Until that day comes, however, the TTF will continue to maximise the tools it has available to address the issues. As well as the RPP, the Timber Trade Federation, through the UK and EU Governments, continues to work towards full sustainability in tropical countries with the Timber Trade Action Plan, a collaboration between various European Timber Federations to access EU funds for work with suppliers to support their efforts in obtaining verified legal as a first step towards achieving full certification for all products.

To identify companies that have signed up to the RPP or have a similar audited scheme, the TTF has launched a new ‘Responsible Purchaser’ logo. The new logo, which can be used within a company’s marketing once they’ve successfully completed the audit, will ensure that companies following their due diligence requirements will be easily identifiable to prospective customers.

But John White has a final message for those who don’t have due diligence in processes in place - the market for timber within the EU and the UK is changing and if companies have not yet recognised this, they need to get moving. Those that don’t may well be sat wondering in a few years time where all their suppliers have gone.

“The timber industry has a responsibility to ensure the wood it sells is both legal and sustainable. But, the construction industry also has a role to play – it needs to ensure that it specifies wood that meets the highest environmental standards, in particular that it comes from sustainable sources. By looking for the Responsible Purchaser logo, those in the construction industry can be sure they are working with companies who take this issue seriously.”

With global climate change talks set to be high priority at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen towards the end of this year – forests and their importance in mitigating climate change are at the forefront of those policy discussions. At the implementation level the trend to implement responsible stewardship of materials along with taking account of the Life Cycle Analysis of construction products will grow. As John White says “Consideration of sustainability issues in construction is here to stay, and the construction industry should be leading the way by using more of nature’s own building material – wood.”