Get Brexit Rule Ready

With the Brexit transition period soon to end, businesses trading timber are being urged to prepare for the many changes ahead of 1 January 2021.

rom 1 January 2021, all UK businesses importing timber F from the EU/EEA and outside will be classified as Operators and are required to carry out due diligence under the UK’s timber legislation, and vice versa under the EU Timber Regulation. The latest advice from the Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is when importing legally harvested timber, you’ll need to carry out due diligence and use a due diligence checklist to make sure you gather information on the timber – its species, quantity, supplier, country of harvest and how it complies with relevant laws, assess the risk of timber being illegal by applying the legal criteria and mitigate any identified risk, by getting more information or taking further actions to confirm the timber is legal.

To help its members and industry as a whole, the Timber Trade Federation (TTF) has launched a due diligence toolkit to help companies importing and exporting timber and timber products better understand, conduct and report due diligence under the EU/UK Timber Regulation. “With this free, interactive tool, timber firms in the UK are gaining a fantastic new resource to undertake and report due diligence,” said David Hopkins, TTF CEO. “This is particularly important for those firms which may find themselves facing an expanded set of obligations as we shift from EU Timber Regulation to UK Timber Regulation. “As the UK exits the EU Single Market, businesses importing into the UK from the European Economic Area will need to carry out due diligence confirming that the timber product placed on the UK market has been legally harvested to meet the UK Timber Regulations. This will be a change for many members, with Europe still supplying the majority of all UK timber imports. It will be important all our members ensure they have a due diligence system in place to identify areas of potential risk where illegal timber may enter the supply chain.

“There is a misconception that due diligence equates to paperwork such as permits,” says TTF sustainability manager Xiao Ma. “While it is true, compared with non-tangible information, such as industry insight and supplier engagement activities, paperwork is the most presentable type of input and output, but it is not the full package of due diligence. “The toolkit serves as a guidance for conducting due diligence and aims to encourage companies examine their own existing procedure to ensure key criteria, risk factors, stakeholder information, and mitigation actions are not being missed during their process. It also aspires to encourage better reporting of companies on the full range of their input and actions taken, beyond just paperwork. As UK companies prepare for conducting due diligence for timber products imported from the EU mainland, this toolkit is aimed to also help new Operators to get on board and ensure that they have the minimum tools to deliver the requirements.”

As we went to press, the TTF updated and republished advice to help firms prepare for the end of the transition period. The ‘TTF Brexit Guide: preparing for 1 January 2021’ aims to support the UK timber supply chain to prepare for new processes and challenges and includes:

The introduction of Custom Checks on goods coming from EU countries The UK Global Tariff replacing the EU Common External Tariff The need for most timber firms to complete Due Diligence The introduction of UK Conformity Assessed (UK CA) marking.

These are significant changes, as the EU is the primary source of timber imports into the UK, and the introduction of new requirements such as Custom Checks will mean greater administrative burden for firms when importing from the EU. While most timber products will remain duty free under the UK Global Tariff, firms should still check and familiarise themselves with the Commodity Codes relevant to their products. UK CA marking commences from 1 January 2021, and while manufacturers can continue to supply CE marked goods to the UK during 2021, where they are using an EU Notified Body, they must prepare for the UK CA mark to become the sole UK requirement from January 2022. European harmonised standards and UK designated standards will be identical to begin with, however firms should also plan for a future where these may diverge over time. “Regardless of whether a deal is signed the UK will see a fundamental shift in the relationship with our biggest trading partner,” says David Hopkins. “When the UK exits the EU single market and customs union, it is essential every business in the UK timber supply chain is prepared. Using this guidance, which is tailored to meet the needs of the timber supply chain, firms will be able to build a working knowledge of these changes, as well as be directed to where they can find detailed information. Make sure you take the time to analyse how the end of the transition period may affect your business, use the TTF tools to get yourself on the right path, and clearly communicate any potential issues with both your customers and your suppliers to minimise disruptions.” The guidance is focused on providing information on Contract Documents, Logistics, Customs Entry, Finance, CE Marking, Plant Health, 

EUTR vs UKTR, Duty Rates, Commodity Codes, Trade Preferences, and linking to where firms can find more.

Northern Ireland Protocol

Businesses trading timber between Great Britain (GB) and Northern Ireland (NI) are also being urged by the UK Government to take action to ensure they are prepared for the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020. The Government has confirmed:

Due diligence checks will take place on timber flowing from Great Britain to Northern Ireland Due diligence checks will take place on timber flowing from the European Union (EU) to GB and GB to EU No new due diligence checks will take place on timber flowing from NI to GB No new due diligence checks will take place on timber flowing from the EU to NI.

There will be no changes to the current process for businesses importing from outside of the EU and UK producers first placing timber on the internal market - they will still need to carry out due diligence as before. To comply with their obligations, timber traders will be required to tell the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS): Who they bought the timber from Who they sold it to (regardless of species, product or country of origin), through evidence such as an invoice Both traders and operators (importers) will be required to keep records for five years.

In the same way as they do now, operators are required to exercise due diligence to ensure that timber and timber products have not been illegally harvested. The changes will be relevant to a range of businesses who use timber, including importers and operators, exporters, those working in the construction industry, furniture manufacturers, paper and pulp manufactures, and the forestry industry.

There will be no change to the way timber due diligence requirements are enforced. However, failure to comply with the timber regulations and enforcement ranges from warning letters, through to court cases, to an unlimited fine and up to two years in prison. Importers of timber from third countries already have to carry out due diligence, except if they are importing from a country which has an operational Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) in place and that import is covered by a forest law enforcement, governance and trade (FLEGT) licence. The new free-to-use Trader Support Service will provide support and guidance to businesses moving goods under the Northern Ireland Protocol. Businesses who sign up to the Trader Support Service will be guided through the new processes under the Northern Ireland Protocol and can also use it to complete digital declarations.

More information on Brexit from the TTF

is at  www.ttf.co.uk/brexit-and-the-

timber-industry

IRO timber decking in driftwood white from BSW Timber

Timber’s Popularity Soars

The huge increase in demand for timber decking and timber cladding has resulted in many retailers reporting record year turnovers, re-enforcing the fact that the nation is back in love with wood.

No one could have predicted 2020 or the way events F have impacted each and every one of us. With severe restrictions on travel and socialising, people have turned their attention to improving their homes and outdoor spaces. Such spaces have become our havens – increasingly important for mental health and wellbeing.

In the late 1990’s we discovered timber decking. Spurred on by celebrity gardeners and major retailers like B&Q helping to drive new trends, demand for timber decking went from zero to a multi-millionpound industry in just a few short years. Consumers had caught the home improvement bug but for a short period, timber decking fell out of favour, a casualty of its own popularity. Fast forward to 2020 and Janet Sycamore, director of The Timber Decking & Cladding Association (TDCA) confirms that many of its members have been working round the clock to meet demand with some retailers selling out within hours. So why now? Janet says that demand in the first half of the year benefited from the great spring weather and the decision to build a deck or add cladding as a lockdown project. In a typical year demand for decking tails off after August and manufacturers use autumn to build stock for the following year. “Our members tell us that this has not happened this year and they have been kept very busy right into November,” says Janet. According to Adam Pulfer, Sales and Marketing Director of Hoppings Softwood Products, decking is more popular than ever. “We’ve been working 24/7 to fulfil orders from the stockists of our Q-deck products.” And according to BSW Timber’s sales and marketing director Dave Chapman: “We’ve seen huge demand for all our decking and cladding products this year, and this goes for our relatively new IRO Timber range too… the indications are that the strong sales of timber decking and cladding will continue in 2021 and beyond.” Can some of this popularity be put down to timber’s environmental credentials? There are several industry campaigns promoting wood’s credentials as a sustainable, cost effective, low carbon product. Hopefully these messages are having an effect.