Adherence to a voluntary responsible purchasing policy in the timber
sector is to become compulsory for members of one of its major trade
associations.
Timber Trade Federation members, who are mainly
based in the UK, voted last month to make the federation’s Responsible
Purchasing Policy a condition of membership, although the rule will
only apply when 51 per cent of members have signed up voluntarily.
The
policy mainly concentrates on combating illegal logging. Newly elected
federation president Neil Donaldson said the federation was determined
to ensure member companies adopted the policy. However, they will have
flexibility ‘to introduce the system into their businesses when it
suits them.’
The policy was launched last year and now has 39
signatories, with Howie Forest Products and Karl Danzer having signed
up last month. More are ‘in the pipeline’, but the London-based
federation, which has 160 members, says that it is not yet in a
position to say when the new requirement will take effect.
