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Defra have been asked to explore some more details about what a regulatory regime would look like for businesses which sell or produce goods in Northern Ireland, so they have put together some questions (see below). 

At present to place timber products on the market in Northern Ireland, businesses need to meet the EU Timber Regulations. The purpose of introducing a dual regulatory regime is so that businesses have a choice about whether they wish to supply timber in Northern Ireland in accordance with the EU Timber Regulations or the UK Timber Regulations. At the moment there is no divergence between UK and EU rules, but this will change once the EU's proposed "Deforestation" Regulations come into force.

Under the dual regulatory regime, businesses supplying timber to Northern Ireland will be able to choose to meet the EU regulatory requirements and this will allow that timber to be sold in Northern Ireland and the EU. Alternatively, businesses could meet UK rules and sell that timber anywhere in the UK, including Northern Ireland. 

 

You will not need to meet both UK and EU rules to sell timber in Northern Ireland, you can choose either and you may wish to meet both sets of rules if you are selling products across the UK and EU.

The current regulatory requirements under UK Timber Regulations in GB and under EU Timber Regulation in Northern Ireland are the same. Operators must not place illegally harvested timber on the GB or NI market and to avoid doing so must first apply a due diligence system, under which they:

  • gather information on timber, including its species, quantity, supplier, country of harvest and compliance with applicable legislation
  • assess the risk of timber being illegal, applying set criteria in the regulations
  • mitigate any identified risk to negligible, by obtaining additional information or taking further steps to verify legality

Compliance is assessed by the Office for Product and Safety Standards (OPSS) who provide guidance Regulations: timber and FLEGT licences - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Under a dual regulatory regime, the requirements for compliance with either EUTR or UKTR would remain the same as they are currently. In the future, there may be divergence between the UK and the EU regime. Under the EU’s proposed “Deforestation” Regulations, there will be some additional requirements in terms of due diligence and checks for moving goods over borders. NB. The “Deforestation” Regulations have not been finalised yet, so the regulatory requirements are not fully set out.

 

  1. What are the likely positive and/or negative impacts of moving to a dual regulatory regime for your business at each stage of production, movement, placing on the market, disposal etc.?
  2. Under the current UK and EU regulatory requirements; and
  3. In the future, should UK and EU regulatory requirements diverge?
  4. What are the likely costs and lead times to enable you to operate under a dual regulatory regime should the UK and EU regulatory requirements diverge?
  5. If changes in regime require that timber or timber products compliant with UK Timber Regulations, but not with EU regulations, are not moved into the EU (Republic of Ireland or other), is physical segregation of UKTR compliant goods feasible?
  6. What would the impacts be for your business of continuing to operate under the current arrangements instead of a dual regulatory regime?”
  7. What are the key timber commodity codes and products in your supply chain which move into / out of Northern Ireland?
  8. How much timber in your supply chain is sold on the market in Northern Ireland from a) GB, b) the EU (and via which route). Please could you specify quantities?
  9. How much timber in your supply chain is produced in NI and moves either (i) into GB or (ii) the EU (and via which route) Please could you specific quantities?
  10. Please could you specify if you consider yourself an Operator or a Trader within Northern Ireland, or both?

 

 

Please email Julie Livingston, Policy Advisor – Timber Regulations/International Biodiversity and Climate, at Defra with your answers by 5 September.