LHC Nepcon presentation 21/03/18
The LHC welcomed Ann Weddle from Nepcon to the HAC, to talk about the work Nepcon does in regards to helping UK timber companies with their due diligence in regards to EUTR and timber procurement. Their aim is to try to help simplify the process of due diligence and procurement for organisations importing and purchasing timber by carrying out a series of risk assessments in various countries and then presenting this information in an easy to use website.
Nepcon, as an organisation, are trying to provide extensive research into sustainability in a number of areas including forestry and timber through the Nepcon sourcing hub. https://www.nepcon.org
Their service is free to use, being funded in the main by the EU and UK governments, and FSC. Nepcon believe that they have completed work on 80% of the major timber exporting companies, and have a system where they rank countries by their risk in relation to EUTR legislation in a simplified format.
The heart of the hub is an extensive selection of risk assessments, under taken over a three year period. These risk assessments are available in PDF form on the hub and also in summary format. The risk assessment’s look at five key areas of the Country harvesting the raw material;
Taxes and fees
Timber harvesting regulations
Trade and transport
Third parties right
Legal rights to harvest
Nepcon have devised their sourcing hub to be an easy to use straightforward website, and certainly from the presentation it did appear easy to navigate and simple to use. There is the facility to utilise the hub to gain general information by Country or to drill deeper for far more detailed analysis. The hub also gives a UK timber buyer a template to work with regarding setting up their own due diligence from scratch.
Nepcon are currently seeking extensive feedback on the work they have done as well as looking to secure future funding to maintain and develop the concept. They are also producing a quarterly newsletter to spread the news of their work and keep their readers up to date with the latest risk assessments, country profiles and new projects.
The presentation was informative and generated an interesting debate on timber procurement from a sustainable perspective.
Members Present
Border Hardwoods |
D.N. Green & Co (Timber) Ltd |
DW Mouldings Ltd |
James Latham PLC |
James Latham PLC |
James Latham PLC |
Morgan Timber |
NEPCon UK |
NHG Timber Ltd |
Northwood Forestry |
Palmer Timber Ltd |
RJC Agencies Ltd |
Tradelink Wood Products Ltd |
Wellwood Ltd |
Finewood Marketing (UK) Ltd |
Peel Ports Group Ltd |