Mr Kearney is head of enforcement for the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR) at the National Measurement Office (NMO), the UK’s Competent Authority (CA) for policing the illegal anti-timber measure.
Since the EUTR came into force in March, the NMO team have been proactive. They’ve travelled the UK liaising with ‘operators’, the Regulation term for timber traders which ‘first place’ goods on the EU market and are in the front line for undertaking due diligence risk assessment of suppliers to ensure illegal timber does not get through.
The NMO has also worked closely with the Timber Trade Federation (TTF) and Mr Kearney has been a frequent speaker at trade events. In fact, in the last couple of weeks he has addressed both the London Hardwood Club and Shippers Luncheon.
In the lead up to the introduction of the EUTR, there were understandable fears that it would bury the trade in red tape. Some predicted that its enforcers might also be overly influenced by the NGOs, even prosecute a well-known industry name to set an example.
As it turns out, EUTR implementation so far has been hard work, and perhaps something of a headache for the trade, but overall an amicable, collaborative process between industry and government agency.
In his latest presentations, Mr Kearney said the NMO’s aim has been to ensure the Regulation works and has maximum impact in terms of combatting the illegal timber trade. That has meant helping the industry understand and comply, rather throwing the book at companies and racking up the prosecutions. And largely, he said, the trade’s approach has been equally positive.
Some companies visited by the NMO have not been taking their EUTR responsibilities as seriously as they might. Others have seen compliance simply as an "information and paper gathering exercise", rather than the leave no stone unturned supplier risk assessment process it should be. But most, said Mr Kearney, had done a good and conscientious job in putting the due diligence systems into place and applying them.
But then came the sting in the tail. It was not exactly no more Mr Nice Guy, but Mr Kearney made it clear that the above was then, this is now. The trade has had time to bed in the EUTR, the NMO to understand the trade. Having risk mapped the sector, it will move from implementation phase to focus on areas of the business most likely to source illegal material, or in danger of doing so inadvertently.
It is committed to a "positive and proportionate" approach, but will track down persistent, serious offenders. The penalties the latter could face range from seizure of goods and fines, to prison – and reports coming out of Germany this week, that one ‘operator’ faces the loss of €100,000 of timber plus fines over an EUTR breach, underlines that the Regulation and its CAs do have teeth. And besides penalties, said Mr Kearney, offenders also face ‘potentially fatal’ reputational damage.
Nor can those who deliberately break the law expect much sympathy from fellow traders. The TTF has made no secret of the fact that it backs the EUTR as a valuable reputation enhancing measure for the industry, that puts it ahead of rival material producers in terms of environmental credibility. So, as far as it and the NMO are concerned, if anyone flouts the Regulation it will be gloves off.
