The UK timber trade can be proud of the fact that 83% of the timber entering the company is now certified as legal and sustainable but has a duty to its overseas suppliers their workers and the countries themselves to try to help stamp out importation of illegal timber products.
That was the message from Bob Harvey, managing director of agent/broker Flatau Dick and chairman of the National Panel Products Division (NPPD) addressing 225 guests at the latter’s annual dinner on November 17.
One of the “numerous benefits” of Timber Trade Federation (TTF) membership, he said, was its due diligence tool, the Responsible Purchasing Policy (RPP). While due diligence might seem to some to be “red tape and baggage”, “in two years time it will be European law for timber companies trading within the EU to have an accredited due diligence system in place,” he continued.
“The TTF and its members is ahead of the field in this respect; the RPP is in place and companies are operating it efficiently.”
Mr Harvey went on to describe the changing face of the trade. “The NPPD has been made up of importers, agents, merchants and manufacturers and they’ve all co-existed pretty well,” he said. “Now the lines of demarcation have all but disappeared, but a role still exists for the del credere agent.”
And, he reminded guests, “an agent will promote the shipper’s products here. He will provide him with statistics, balanced market information and also what the competition is up to. And all this does not cost the shipper a penny until the sale is made.”
