The Netherlands Timber Trade Association (NTTA) says its membership remains on track to meet commitments on sourcing legal and sustainable timber.
The goals for the end of 2009 are for member companies to be certain of the origin of 100% of the material they trade, with 75% of the total guaranteed to be from “demonstrably sustainable forests”.
The latter target takes into account the different challenges in achieving certification in different types of timber and wood product.
“It refers to 75% of all timber traded and actually breaks down as 100% of all softwood, 75% of all plywood and 25% of all hardwood, with a further commitment to 50% of all hardwood coming from verified legal sources,” said NTTA deputy director Paul van den Heuvel.
The NTTA’s definition of “sustainable” is that set by the independent Netherlands environmental timber certification monitoring body Kerhout.
“That effectively means FSC or PEFC certification,” said Mr van den Heuvel.
In the coming months, he added, the NTTA is consulting members on its next set of targets.
