Timber you can trust
#trustedtimber

Our members are your trusted suppliers

The TTF’s mission is to grow the use of wood. We believe it brings a practical aesthetic beauty to our lives, while contributing to a low-carbon future.

However, with the array of timber products available and the range of global forests that we import from, we have to ensure that the products are both responsibly sourced and fit-for-purpose in the market.

To do this, the Timber Trade Federation acts as the guardian of product quality, standards and sustainability in the market.

Our members are often first placers in the market and, as such, have a duty of care to their downstream customers. They show this through a strict adherence to the TTF “Code of Conduct”.

This commits our members to the highest standards of integrity in product quality and sustainability – from the tile battens on your roof to the preservative treated decking in your garden, right through to the plywood lining your van.

The Code of Conduct provides clear guidance to members about what products should and should not be placed on the market, and gives assurance to merchants, builders and other end-users that buying from a TTF Member means buying with confidence.

The TTF has long been a world leader in responsible sourcing and supply chain management. We were the first timber trade association in the world to introduce a compulsory risk management and verification system – the Responsible Purchasing Policy (RPP) – to keep members and their products in line with the requirements of the EU Timber Regulations and the Construction Products Regulation (CPR).

We are still the only timber trade association that makes members undergo a compulsory third-party audit to verify the claims they make for environmental origin and product performance.

This means that TTF Members are the ONLY Timber Traders to have any credible claim to selling 100% legal or sustainable products into the market.

No other trade association can make that claim – nor any individual trader make the claim to have such a wide-ranging impact!

Regardless of your timber needs, to be confident of your purchases, look for a TTF Member and buy: Timber You Can Trust.

Better for business, better for the planet

Harvesting trees for timber places an important economic value on forests. Without this value, and in the context of a fast increasing global population, the pressure to clear forests for other land-uses is huge with conversion to agriculture the single biggest cause of deforestation in tropical countries.

Responsible sourcing of timber helps helps to keep forests standing. This is vitally important, given the role that forests play in helping to mitigate climate change, enhance biodiversity and protect ecologically important habitats and wildlife. If the amount of forest certified sustainable is to rise, it needs the support of responsible purchasers.

Sustainably-managed forests not only ensure good environmental practices but also ensure that the rights of forest communities and indigenous people are respected and taken into account in forest management. Hence, sustainable forest management provides wider social benefits as well as economic benefits for local communities.

The best assurance that timber comes from sustainably-managed forests is to buy timber that has been independently certified under globally respected schemes, such as FSC and PEFC. TTF members are leaders in this area; 91% of all our members’ timber purchases are from such sources – see our Responsible Sourcing Report 2017 for more detail.

As global leaders in sustainability, the Timber Trade Federation works around the world to promote best practices across the supply chain, all the way from forest through to end product. This includes promoting strong, sensible timber regulations in the UK as a net importer of timber, and helping countries around the globe improve their practices.