Travis Perkins has taken delivery of its first shipment of FSC-certified and CE-marked elliottii pine plywood.

The Compensados E Laminados Lavrasul mill, which has been a trading partner of Travis Perkins since 1987, is the only Brazilian mill to offer CE product to 636-2+ with FSC certification and Travis Perkins is the only merchant in the UK to stock the new plywood.

Forest products director Philip Vaughan said: “Travis Perkins has adopted CE marking in its timber procurement despite the UK government choosing not to make it mandatory. We see CE marking as the way forward and the most direct method to meeting the Construction Product Directive.”

Speaking at the product launch on Thursday, which was attended by Lavrasul mill owner Isac Chami Zugman, Mr Vaughan added that CE marking provided the quality assurance that customers wanted and it would also “make it harder for cheats”.

&#8220We see CE marking as the way forward and the most direct method to meeting the Construction Product Directive”

Travis Perkins forest products director Philip Vaughan

Director of strategic planning Ian Goldsmith said Travis Perkins had embarked on a programme of increasing its volume of certified products because it was the “ethically right path”.

He said: “Feedback from customers continues to show that a growing proportion prefer to buy timber sourced from well-managed forests.”