The audited figures of TTF-member purchases provide a risk profile for upwards of 70% of all timber imports to the UK and reveals a further reduction in the risk of purchasing illegally sourced timber and timber products.
The returns reveal that 92% of all purchases were of negligible or managed risk. The remaining 8.4% is assessed risk, of which 7.3% is low risk, 0.8% is medium risk and 0.3% is high risk.
“The EUTR has provided further stimulus to responsible sourcing in the UK,” a TTF spokesman said. “Perhaps the greatest testament to progress in risk reduction is the level of high risk recorded in 2013 and the forecast for 2014. In 2013 this risk reduced to just 0.3% of all purchases, from 2.6% and this year the level of high risk purchases is predicted to fall to 0.2%.”
The TTF said improvements have been achieved against a backdrop of increased purchases of products traditionally perceived as higher risk, such as tropical hardwoods. The report also revealed that the proportion of certified Forest Stewardship Council or Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification material has risen from 87.1% in 2012 to 90.7% of all purchases in 2013.
In the product segments, panel products showed significant improvement, boosting lower levels of risk from 71% to 89%. High risk purchases were reduced from 10% to 1%.
Softwood, the largest product segment and the most responsibly managed, carried almost no risk of being illegal, the TTF said. Neglible or managed risk rose from 96% ro 97%.
Hardwood purchases remain more prone to illegal logging. The UK imported 420,000m3 last year and the assessed risk rose from nearly 53% to 57.7%.
“The main reason was the combination of more companies reporting and the continued high proportion of tropical hardwoods from Africa, Asia and Latin America,” the TTF said.
