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EU Timber Regulation

The EU's FLEGT (Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade) Action Plan included a review of the options for passing a more stringent legislation in the future, which has now led to the recent publication of the EU Timber Regulation. This regulation was passed in October 2010 and will take effect on 3rd March 2013. The regulation makes it an offence for those defined as first placers (known in the legislation as Operators ) to place illegal timber on the EU market and obligates them to undertake due diligence. Due diligence is a process that enables buyers of timber and timber products to risk assess their purchases. The DEFRA briefing note on the EUTR provides a very good one page summary of the legislation.

The following dates provide a useful indication of the work that is taking place within the UK and the EU in 2011 and 2012 in preparation for the March 2013 deadline. The TTF are of course involved in the consultations with DEFRA, about how the EUTR will be implemented into UK Law.

Timeline for Implementation of EUTR in the UK

23rd March 2011
First UK Stakeholder meeting at DEFRA

28th April 2011
Stakeholder consultation meeting to inform the EFI study on due diligence systems (Click here for the final report of this study)

17th/ 18th May 2011
First round of Member State Experts' meetings on the secondary EU legislation to implement the EUTR, to discuss both delegated acts and implementing regulations.

May 2011
Provisional date for completion of draft Delegated Act by the Commission

9th June 2011
Second UK Stakeholder meeting at DEFRA

24th June 2011
Expert Meeting between Member States, the European Parliament and the Commission on the draft Delegated Act

August 2011 (Provisional)
Completion of draft Implementing Rules by the Commission
Begin translation of Delegated Act into UK law

6th September 2011
Third UK Stakeholder meeting at DEFRA

8th September 2011
Committee meeting between Commission and Member States on the draft Implementing Rules

November 2011 (Provisional)
Begin translation of Implementing Rules into UK Law

June 2012 (fixed)
Entry into force of Implementing Rules

3rd March 2013 (fixed)
Entry into force of Delegated Act