The EU Timber Regulation (EUTR), which came into force on 3rd March 2013, makes it an offence to place illegal timber – or timber products such as wooden furniture – on the EU market and places obligations on those who first place such products on the market. The EUTR also requires those who buy or sell products already placed on the market to maintain records to enable supply chain traceability.
In this respect, the Regulation affects the entire furniture supply chain and remains a source of concern for many businesses.
Classifying your organisation
OPERATORS - The EUTR defines organisations ‘first placing’ timber and products such as wooden furniture onto the European market as Operators
TRADERS - On the other hand, the Regulation defines Traders as those that buy or sell timber or timber products already placed on the internal market for commercial purposes.
Given the complex nature of the furniture supply chain there may be complications in defining your organisation as either an Operator or Trader.
It is important to remember that certain organisations may be classified as both an Operator and a Trader dependent on the source of their timber products. Typically, the determination of an organisation’s obligations is likely to be made according to legal ownership of the timber product in question.
Which products are affected?
The Annex of the Regulation stipulates which timber and timber products are covered by the EUTR according to the Combined Nomenclature (CN) Code.
This covers a variety of timber products including:
• sawn and machined wood
• composite boards, such as fibreboard and particleboard
• veneering sheets
• non-upholstered office, kitchen and bedroom furniture
Presently, there are several exemptions to the Regulation in the form of recycled products or for product groups, such as types of seating and benches. However, there is some ambiguity around these so Operators and Traders are advised to assess if their products are covered or exempt from the Regulation.
It is highly likely that exempted product groups will be incorporated into the scope of the Regulation during its next revision in 2015. Therefore, it is advised to include such product groups within the current due diligence process in order to demonstrate good business practice and to facilitate compliance in the future.
Obligations
In order to meet the requirements of the EUTR, each Operator is required to implement systems to record and carry out due diligence - a set of measures and procedures that effectively minimise the risk that the timber sourced was from an illegal source. This can be a system they have developed themselves or one provided by a Monitoring Organisation .
Traders (those dealing with purchases from within the EU) are not expected to carry out due diligence but must keep records of transactions with other organisations.
The requirements for due diligence, as set out in the EUTR, are likely to allow companies to use existing ways of working or be relatively easy to adopt so as not to impose undue extra work and cost.
All associated records must be kept for five years and provided to the National Measurement Office (as the Competent Authority in the UK) if requested. Records of sale to the general public/end consumer do not fall within the scope of the Regulation.
Finally it is important to remember that the EUTR does not have retroactive effect, meaning that it only applies to wood and wood products placed on the market on and after 3 March 2013.
FIRA expertise
FIRA supports the furniture industry in understanding its obligations under the EUTR through several avenues, such as providing consultancy services or awareness training seminars. These have proved to be very popular throughout 2013.
FIRA’s EU Timber Regulations Awareness Training is a one day course which aims to assist the industry in understanding and meeting their legal obligations when importing, selling and trading timber and timber products in the European Union. The next course date is 9th January 2014.
FIRA has also recently added a RIBA-approved CPD seminar, designed to enable architects and designers to understand the implications of the EUTR and assess their legal obligations when importing, specifying and trading timber and timber products in the EU.
Both the seminar and the training course aim to provide full support to help businesses avoid the penalties that could be imposed if they are found to be non-compliant. Due to the complexity of the Regulation, FIRA is also offering ongoing support to delegates through its EU Timber Regulation Mailing list, which provides key updates as they occur.
If companies require assistance in understanding these requirements, or wish to discuss how FIRA can help, telephone 01438 777 700, email [email protected] or visit www.fira.co.uk.
