Government minister Hilary Benn has backed the UK Forest Products Association’s call for a “simple approach” to the implementation of the EU due diligence regulation.
The UK government has recently completed a consultation on the due diligence legislation which is aimed at helping to stop illegal timber products coming into the EU.
UKFPA had called on Defra to “keep it simple” and to avoid the imposition of further administrative and financial burdens on growers and processors of British-grown wood, arising from its implementation.
Mr Benn, the secretary of state for environment, food & rural affairs, said he was taking “all steps possible” to reduce extra red tape.
He said he hoped to agree “a regulation which will utilise the existing felling licence system, based on the UK Forestry Standard approach to sustainable forest management to form the basis of the requirements for UK producers”.
UKFPA president Tony Mitchell said he was encouraged by the minister’s response. “We hope that we can look forward to a simple and straightforward approach for growers and processors of British-grown timber,” he said.
“However, it is clear that there remains much work to be done before agreement is reached at a European level.”
