Mr White was reacting to a new federation study that found that only 10% of UK importers’ customers were demanding certified wood, despite 56% of timber and wood products imported into the UK in 2005 being certified.
The report, prepared by industry statistician Nick Moore, shows 58% (some 4.4 million m3) of sawn softwood imports in 2005 were certified, while only 11% of hardwood imports had certification.
Plywood reflected a similar split, with certified softwood plywood showing a 46.5% market share and certified hardwood products 23.8%.
According to the study, the Forest Stewardship Council and Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes (PEFC) dominate the certification market, with roughly a 50/50 share of certified products.
The report, the first in a series of four industry studies, was supported by the Forestry Commission, the Wood Panel Industries Federation, PEFC, Sustainable Forestry Initiative, ConFor and the UK Forest Products Association.
