History

Since 2013, ATIBT developed the website legal-timber.info as part of its FLEGT-REDD project, with grants from the French Ministry of Agriculture and the support of other partners. It was an information platform for timber importing companies and other stakeholders wishing to find out more about the implementation of the EUTR.

In the meantime, ETTF launched in 2016 a project aiming to create a central point of information on both timber industry and legislation. The start of the project received financial contributions of the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) and IDH’s European Sustainable Tropical Timber Coalition (STTC). This led to the creation of The Timber Trade Portal, a unique platform with well-summarized and in-depth info on timber legality frameworks of 23 countries relevant in international timber trade.

Considering that the two platforms contained many similarities in their content and shared the same objective, ETTF and ATIBT concluded in 2017 an agreement to merge their respective websites on timber legality information in relation to the EUTR under the Timber Trade Portal. Both parties coincided that the timber market needed a central platform, allowing people to consult precise and reliable information on the legal trade of timber in producer countries. The present Timber Trade Portal, a unique platform with well-summarized and in-depth info on legality frameworks of 23 countries relevant in the international timber trade, is the result.

The website is currently maintained and updated by ATIBT which leads the adaptation and update of the country profiles on the website through Form International. It also ensures translation of country profiles into French, to expand its accessibility to francophone visitors.