The European Commission has launched a public consultation on the contentious issue of whether the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR) should broaden in scope to encompass more timber and wood product imports to the EU.

There has been ongoing debate on the topic since the EUTR’s 2013 introduction. NGOs in particular have pressed for extending the Regulation, with a WWF position paper in 2016 calling for it to encompass all wood-based products. 

At the same time timber trade and Competent Authority (CA) concerns have been raised over the extra administrative time and cost covering more product categories would entail. Some doubts have been expressed over whether CAs would have the resources to undertake the work.

The EC public consultation on the issue runs until April 24 and comprises a 23-language online questionnaire (click here to complete) .

It is open to all interested parties, from representatives of timber businesses, trade bodies and civil society organisations, to EUTR CAs and Monitoring Organisations. Members of the general public and respondents in non-EU timber producing countries can also take part.

The question posed is whether the EUTR’s current product scope should be amended or not, and if so, to what extent

The consultation process follows evaluation of the EUTR’s operation in its first two years, and forms part of an EC impact assessment of possible changes to EUTR product scope.

All completed questionnaires will be published online.