The programme was due to broadcast on Monday July 22, but has been rescheduled for tonight because of coverage of the royal birth on Monday.
However, online previews of the programme indicate its focus will be La Rochelle-based importer EdWood. It was alleged to have brought okoumé logs into France marked by its Congo-Brazzaville supplier Taman Industries as originating from one region of the country, Banda Nord, when in fact it came from another, where an export ban was in place. This would have put it in breach of the EUTR.
Richard Bagnall, managing director of Robbins Timber, was interviewed by reporter Raphael Rowe on the basis that the company had bought plywood from another French company and customer of EdWood, Saint-Severin-based Ets Burguet et Fils. However, Mr Bagnall said that at no point was it said that there was any link with the allegedly mis-marked timber and the small quantities of material Robbins, a Timber Trade Federation member and so signatory of its mandatory EUTR-aligned Responsible Purchasing Policy, had sourced from the company.
"Mr Rowe highlighted okoumé-cored decking as one example of the material he was investigating, but we have only sourced very small volumes of okoumé-cored marine plywood from Burguet, and this was before the alleged mis-marking came to light," he said. "Our usage of okoumé cores from them is a maximum of around 2m3 per year. We buy around 200m3 of okoumé plywood elsewhere which is all FSC certified."
According to preview extracts of the Panorama programme, investigators from Resource Extraction Monitoring maintained that marks on okoumé supplied to EdWood by Taman had been altered to indicate it was legitmately sourced from Banda Nord when it was probably from the Mpoukou-Ogoue region.
Taman was reported as saying that if the logs had been wrongly marked, it was "human error". EdWood said it had evidence of Taman’s licence to cut.
Mr Rowe highlighted the introduction of the EUTR in March to stamp out illegal timber, but said that it currently amounted to a "chain of good intentions with very weak links".
Greenpeace campaigner John Sauven said on the previews that the Taman timber should have "raised a red flag" under the EUTR.
Mr Rowe concluded that until more enforcement steps were taken "thousands more trees will be illegally plundered", and transformed into products for sale in the EU.
Mr Bagnall said it was valid for the media to highlight weaknesses in EUTR enforcement.
"It is still in its early days and clearly not yet flawless and it is in all our interest to ensure that it is enforced effectively across the EU," he said.
The Timber Trade Federation urged its members to watch the programme and point out any "inconsistencies".
"We worked closely with Panorama to ensure the trade is seen as honest and transparent as possible," said David Hopkins, head of communications and external affairs. "And, prior to the programme going out, we’re confident that, after six months of investigation, the makers found no hint of impropriety among our members."
