EUTR: assessment of plywood imported from China
The NMRO has completed an assessment of imported Chinese plywood in relation to the EU Timber Regulation.
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Details
Background and summary
The National Measurement and Regulation Office (NMRO) enforces a number of areas of legislation in the UK, including the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR). This puts obligations on those who trade in timber and some timber products to help ensure that the wood has been legally sourced.
Intelligence led the NMRO to assess the risk of plywood imported from China (but often originally sourced from Africa) and placed on the UK market. A risk based assessment led to 16 companies being investigated as part of this research exercise.
A total of 13 products were purchased for testing against their described timber composition, of which nine did not match their declaration. Various sanctions will be applied to the companies in question, including the possibility of prosecution based on non-compliance with a notice of remedial action.
The combined value of the imports of the companies in this project amounts to 10% of the plywood imported from China into the UK in the last year. Given the potential scale of non-compliance in this industry, the NMRO are likely to conduct further investigations in this product area in the future.
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