New efforts to crack down on illegally-sourced plywood imported from China have been backed by the Wood Panel Industries Federation (WPIF).
With much of Chinese plywood manufacturing going unchecked, the WPIF says such action is long overdue to protect endangered forestry and wildlife, and it hopes that fresh enforcement of EU legislation will lead to greater compliance, more responsible sourcing and enhanced consumer confidence.

As a result of new intelligence over illegal logging in threatened areas, enforcement agency the National Measurement Office (NMO) has been investigating plywood made in China - the world's largest plywood producing and exporting country - and then sold in the UK.

It has uncovered worrying findings, and after identifying companies and requesting due diligence on their plywood sources it has now published a report highlighting the scale of the problem. Of the 16 companies identified, 14 submitted due diligence systems that failed to meet regulatory guidelines.

In an effort to prevent illegally-logged timber entering the European market, the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR) came into force in 2013, and the WPIF is now keen to see further enforcement of the legislation that will drive home a zero tolerance message to all in the supply chain, including manufacturers, importers, distributors and end users.

WPIF director general Alastair Kerr said: "Despite EU regulation, it's now clear that the UK is still importing illegal and unsustainably-grown timber from high risk areas of the planet - and that the problem is worse than many had thought.

"In 2013, our government made a commitment to procure sustainably-sourced wood products, but the fulfilment of that pledge has been unconvincing across the past two years, while there has been little evidence of efforts to crack down on the importing of plywood that does not meet the EUTR criteria.

"The NMO's report confirms what many of us already knew - that a large proportion of Chinese plywood manufacturing continues to go unchecked and its supply makes up around half of tropical plywood imports in the UK.

"Such illegal imports undermine the efforts of responsible manufacturers who are supplying fully certified products.

"Nevertheless, we are pleased to see that a renewed focus on enforcement is set to go some way to remedying that situation, providing evidence that the government is listening to our concerns."