TimbmetпїЅs position at the forefront of timber supply in Britain brings with it great responsibility. We are rigorous in our approach to environmental responsibility and demanding in our expectations of others.

Illegal logging poses a huge threat to the sustainability of forests, the survival of their eco-systems and the economy of producer countries. Its practice presents a major problem to the timber industry. Because of this, we invest heavily in schemes which allow us to assure our customers that all our wood products are sourced from legal and well-managed forests. And that means either seeking independent guarantees, or, where none are available, implementing our own risk management system, created in response to inadequacies in the current system.

There are a number of independent certification schemes which operate throughout the world, working to various standards with varying levels of success. The five main organisations recognised to provide useful guarantees in the UK are:

On recommendation from the Central Point of Expertise on Timber (CPET), the UK Government currently accepts that the FSC, CSA, PEFC and SFI provide adequate assurance of legally and sustainably sourced supplies. The MTCC assures only that timber supplies are legal.

TimbmetпїЅs wide range of certified timbers and wood products are available with Chain of Custody certification to the FSC standard (chain of custody registration code TT-COC-1063), the PEFC standard (registration code TT-PEFC-0001) and the CSA, SFI and MTCC standards through BM TRADAпїЅs пїЅForest Products Chain of CustodyпїЅ Certification (registration code BMT-COC-0001). Details of these timbers can be found in the Certified and Verified Products section.

In tropical regions, where there is no, or a very limited supply of, credibly certified timber, we are working with timber producers to achieve FSC certification. We have developed a range of timbers which have been independently confirmed to be:

• traceable from source forest to Timbmet
• from legally harvested forests
• from forests where forest management practices are actively improving to achieve credible certification (with FSC as the target certification scheme)

Assurance of adequate progress in working towards FSC certification is achieved through certification support programmes which are operated by WWF, Tropical Forest Trust and the Certification Support Program (SGS).

Supply of Verified Progress timber is independently guaranteed through certification of Timbmet to BM TRADAпїЅs пїЅForest Products Chain of CustodyпїЅ standard (registration code BMT-COC-0001).

Some of the timber we buy isnпїЅt supplied with independent guarantees. For these products, we use information provided by our supply risk assessment system to evaluate its likely source. On the basis of assessments made of individual products, we are able to provide our customer with justified assurances.