FOREST POLICY TRADE AND FINANCE INITIATIVE - THE UNITED KINGDOM TIMBER REGULATION:

The UK government has committed to continue to regulate imports of illegal timber in Great Britain through the Timber and Timber Products (Placing on the Market) Regulations (referred to as the UKTR for implementation in 2021 and beyond), while continuing to enforce the EUTR in Northern Ireland. [...] It assesses questions such as: ■ What impact has the EUTR had on the UK’s timber sourcing and trade? ■ How has UK enforcement of the EUTR worked to date? ■ How have UK timber industry sourcing practices and Due Diligence evolved in response to the EUTR? 14 THE UNITED KINGDOM TIMBER REGULATION: CHANGING THE MARKET TO PROTECT FORESTS? 2 The Changing Nature of the UK Demand for Timber Products 2.1 Vo. [...] The UK enforcement authority will also revisit Operators that have been previously found non-compliant depending on the assessed risk, ideally within two years of a previous non-compliance but the timing of the revisit will be subject to the perceived risk and the resources of the CA. [...] While there has been no formal discussion of the systemic challenges to prosecuting importers who contravene the prohibition, it appears that it is ultimately easier to enforce the part of the law which requires companies to collect and verify information in the European jurisdiction and disclose it to their regulators than to prosecute using the element of the law that relies on the collection of. [...] Companies found guilty are paying more to cover the cost of the court case in the UK than the penalty applied for failing to effectively assess and mitigate the risk that the timber was illegally harvested in the source country.