The recent downturn and subsequent recovery in deliveries from China and Vietnam may be partly attributable to the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR). The sharp fall occurred at around the time the EUTR came into force in March 2013 and may have been partly due to concerns about the reliability of evidence provided by Chinese and Vietnamese suppliers to demonstrate negligible risk of illegal timber origin.<\/p>\n
Now the EUTR has been in effect for two years, more buyers may have established reliable supply chains and documentation and feel more confident about importing wood furniture from outside the EU.There is some evidence for the impact of EUTR from interviews with large European retailers.<\/p>\n
A recent trade article based on interviews with representatives of European furniture manufacturer and retailer IKEA, flooring manufacturer Kahrs, and DIY retailer B&Q observes:<\/p>\n
\u201cEUTR did not require major revision of their anti-illegal timber strategies. Illegality risk assessment and due diligence were already integrated into their operations, and they are also all working towards 100% certified sustainable sourcing. What the EUTR did do, however, was prompt renewed scrutiny and reappraisal of existing systems and a step up in communication on illegality risk\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n The interviewees noted that EUTR prompted an extensive effort to tighten and extend existing procedures, gather additional data from suppliers and to train staff but did not generally lead to any significant change in the supply base. The interviewees said that they had to temporarily stop sourcing from some companies when documentation was inadequate. However problems were almost always resolved so that trading could resume.<\/p>\n Another line of evidence for the impact of EUTR is provided by analysis of the share wood in total furniture imports. Wood's share of total furniture import value fell in the second half of 2013 when EUTR was first implemented, from around 55% to 53%.<\/p>\n This loss of share was at the expense of metals and, to a lesser extent, plastic. However, wood's share of import value stabilised in 2014 and 2015. In the 12 months to March 2015, wood still accounted for 53% of furniture import value, compared to 38% for metals, 3.5% for plastic, 1% for bamboo and 5.5% for other materials.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The recent downturn and subsequent recovery in deliveries from China and Vietnam may be partly attributable to the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR). The sharp fall occurred at around the time the EUTR came into force in March 2013 and may … Continue reading