Businesses trading timber between Great Britain (GB) and Northern Ireland (NI) are being urged to take action to ensure they are prepared for the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020.
To comply with their obligations, timber traders will be required to tell the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS):
- who they bought the timber from
- who they sold it to (regardless of species, product or country of origin), through evidence such as an invoice
- both traders and operators (importers) will be required to keep records for five years
In the same way as they do now, operators are required to exercise due diligence to ensure that timber and timber products have not been illegally harvested.
The changes will be relevant to a range of businesses who use timber including:
- importers and operators
- exporters
- those working in the construction industry
- furniture manufacturers
- paper and pulp manufactures
- forestry industry
For further information please visit the GOV.UK website.