The regulation came into force on 3rd March 2013, is binding on all EU Member States and prohibits illegally harvested timber or timber products from being placed in the EU market.
EUTR
- Comes into force on 3rd March 2013
- Prohibits illegally harvested timber or timber products from being placed on the EU market
- Is binding on all 27 EU Member States, which are responsible for laying down penalties and for enforcing the regulation
Main obligations of the EUTR
The regulation counters the trade in illegally harvested timber and timber products through three key obligations:
1) It prohibits the placing on the EU market of illegally harvested timber and products derived from such timber;
2) It requires EU traders who place timber products on the EU market for the first time to exercice “due diligence”. Once on the market, the timber and timber products may be sold on and/or transformed before they reach the final customer.
To allow for the traceability of timber products, economic operators in this part of the supply chain (referred to as traders in this regulation) have an obligation to
3) Keep records of their suppliers and customers
Source: European Union 2010; European commission - EUTR Leaflet