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50% of tested timber is not of the reported species, says BM TRADA

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Some of the UK’s biggest plywood suppliers and retailers risk falling foul of the EU Timber Regulations, according to new testing figures from BM TRADA.

The results revealed that as much as 50% of the samples analysed, for timber industry and non-timber industry clients, since January 2015 were not of the reported species.

The figures follow the National Measurement Office’s (NMO) Chinese plywood enforcement project, which found that, of 16 companies investigated, 14 submitted “insufficient” due diligence systems.

Nick Clifford, timber species expert at BM TRADA, said: “People have suddenly woken up to the fact that they are at risk.

“What we are finding is that around half of the samples we’ve tested are not what they’re purported to be. They might not be an endangered species, but in many cases, we’ve found a lower value species used in favour of another.”

He added that the biggest challenges were around the use of eucalyptus and poplar: “One of the big plywood suppliers keeps finding the product is not what it is supposed to be. It is common practice to use poplar as an internal veneer and then another decorative veneer – from a different species – on the outside to improve the aesthetics. While this would not necessarily be taken as evidence of underhand activity, suppliers have a responsibility under EUTR to provide the correct claims.”

The organisation says timber species verification can be used to assess whether timber, either in its ‘raw’ form or when manufactured into a product, is the species it is claimed to be in the accompanying document.

“From an EUTR perspective all the species contained in a product or item must be included on the accompanying documentation, and can therefore be subject to scrutiny,” added Nick Clifford.

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