Speaking at the Hants & Dorset Timber Trade Association’s (HDTTA) dinner in Bournemouth, Mr White said what the industry had done was "quite fantastic".
"I don’t think I can point to any other industry that has planned and implemented a piece of legislation as we have," he said.
And, he added, feedback from the National Measurement Office, the EUTR policing body, was positive.
"If we do things right, like due diligence, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t take market share from competitors," he said, but added that to persuade customers to buy timber, the industry also had to "prove the claims we make".
"Saying timber is a green material is not enough; we need to prove the claims we make. We’ve sat on our laurels for too long," said Mr White.
Wood for Good’s Wood First Plus programme to collect life cycle data would help to build Environmental Product Declarations and support claims under the Construction Products Regulation, which comes into force on July 1.
"Our credentials and wood industry have to be protected like we would protect our children; the stakes not to are far too high," said Mr White.
HDTTA president Steve Frommont also praised the TTF’s work.
"We live in rapidly changing times but I’m pleased to see that the one constant is the TTF," he said. "It’s really come on in the past few years; it’s a credit to John White and his team."
The organisation offered an unrivalled range and quality of products and, he added, "companies should wear their TTF membership like a badge of honour".
A raffle at the dinner raised £1,000 for the Timber Trades’ Benevolent Society.
