Due Diligence

The FLEGT Action Plan of 2003 committed the EU to looking at ‘additional legislative options’ to reduce the flow of illegal timber into Europe. Five years later, a  regulation ‘laying down the obligations of operators who place timber and timber products on the market’ has been proposed – the Due Diligence Regulation.

Unlike the Lacey Act in the US – which makes it a crime to trade in illegal plant products – the Due Diligence regulation stipulates that operators must put in place an information collection and risk management system to minimize the risk of illegal timber and timber products reaching the market.

 The exact specifics of the regulation are still being debated: what products does it cover (standing timber, processed products only),who is an operator and at what point is a product ‘placed on the market for the first time’? Some member states are pushing to go a step further - a prohibition on placing illegal timber on the market, similar to Lacey.

Whatever is decided, it is clear that importers, traders, retailers – anyone putting timber on the market – will have to know much more about what the product is made of, where it came from and how it was produced.

For a diagram of the Due Diligence process, see here.

For more information see the Timber Trade Federation page on Due Diligence here.