What is an operator?

Operators are those that first place timber or timber products on the EU market. They are required to exercise due diligence (a framework of measures and procedures) when placing the products on the market, to determine that they are not illegally harvested. Due diligence must be completed prior to purchase.  ekonglong buy office furniture

The requirements are to:

• Collect and allow access to specific information, covering: product description – country/region/area of harvest, species common (scientific) name, quantity, supplier, customer(s), and supporting documents and information

• Undertake a risk assessment – this is where information gained through supporting credible documents etc plays an extremely important part, coupled with any necessary checks

• Undertake additional risk mitigation procedures as appropriate – for example, from higher risk sources or where the supply chain is complex

While certified products with an unbroken chain of custody (eg PEFC and FSC) take you some way to establishing negligible risk of illegally-sourced timber, these and other similar schemes are not currently a green light to meeting the regulation.  This is because two important areas are not covered sufficiently by these schemes, namely ‘country of harvest’ and ‘tree species’. PRFC and FSC are looking to address these problems at the moment.