Improvements were recorded in hardwood, panel products and other products and relate to 2012 – the latest period for which figures are available. Purchase information came from 155 TTF members who use the RPP.
“This report confirms there is very little risk, if any, of illegally-sourced timber and panel products entering the UK,” said the TTF. Report findings show the level of high-risk purchases for all products fell by a half from 5.2% of all timber purchases in 2011 to 2.6% in 2012.
The proportion of high-risk hardwood purchases reduced from just over 10% in 2011 to 6.8% in 2012, which equates to less than 0.5% of all UK timber and panel imports.
High-risk purchases for panel products fell from nearly 19% to less than 10% in 2012. In plywood, high-risk purchases dropped from 34.9% to 13.6%, with good progress made in identifying and mitigating risk in plywood supply chains.
But it is still regarded the product with the highest probability of containing any illegal raw material. For other products, including finished and semi-finished joinery products, railway sleepers, flooring and furniture components, the proportion of high-risk purchases fell again to 2% of all purchases where risk was assessed.
“Working together, member companies and their suppliers have made significant advances in 2012 in the desire to eradicate potential illegally-sourced timber from the UK supply chain,” said TTF CEO John White.
He congratulated TTF members for their trust, transparency and diligence in providing purchasing information to independent analyst timbertrends. The 2013 data will be released in the summer.
