The government needs to “get its act together” and ensure its timber procurement policy is implemented by local authorities, Timber Trade Federation (TTF) president Kevin Hayes said this week.
Speaking at The Federation’s annual dinner at Banqueting House on Wednesday, Mr Hayes said that in the need for consistency in the battle against illegal logging and non-verified timber products, the government’s Central Point of Expertise on Timber, with “substantial input from the TTF”, “generally gets it right”. However, at local government level, it was a different story.
“There are still some local authorities who totally ignore the central directives and have no such policies,” said Mr Hayes. “It causes chaos and bewilderment for suppliers, especialy those who want to supply the correct products.”
He added: “We need the government to get its act together and ensure its policies are implemented at local level.”
Around 150 people attended the dinner – a marked contrast to last year when the event sold out and around 380 timber traders attended – but Mr Hayes said the reason for the lower turnout was “economics, not apathy”.
“For many it is difficult to justify any expense when jobs are being lost in our trade,” he said.
