The Timber Trade Federation (TTF) is backing moves to ensure all government departments follow the same environmental criteria in timber procurement. And it hopes that this will ultimately lead to uniform procurement rules being adopted by local authorities.
Speaking at the London Hardwood Club’s New Year lunch in London last week, TTF president Kevin Hayes said that the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) was expected to complete a thorough review of central government timber procurement policy (to which the TTF has contributed) in March.
“The EAC’s criticism is not so much the policy itself, but the practicalities of it and the fact that central government departments all seem to be implementing their own versions,” said Mr Hayes. “The aim is to get consistency throughout and we hope to see much improvement in coming months.”
The TTF, he added, was already looking beyond this and working with NGOs, the government and its Central Point of Expertise on Timber to push for the “dissemination of the central government approach at local level”.
“The plan is to get a seriously improved timber procurement policy in place in local government around the country,” he said. “Currently there are wide variations and inconsistencies in approach. It creates a real headache for [timber] suppliers.”
Mr Hayes later told TTJ that the current lack of a standard procurement approach across all levels of government created inconsistency in demand for certified and verified legal timber. This could even disincentivise some timber companies from bothering with certification or due diligence environmental procurement practice.
“With some local authorities you can’t move a muscle without third party certification, others haven’t even heard of it,” he said. “If they followed the same rules that, in turn would filter out to local businesses, making life much easier for our industry.”
