UK urged to treat imported timber as national security issue

The UK’s reliance on imported timber should be formally recognised as a national security risk, according to a policy report presented in Parliament, which warns that structural dependence on external supply leaves the country exposed to geopolitical disruption, price volatility and constrained availability. The report, Timber: An Issue of National Security and Economic Resilience, published by Confor, states that the UK imports more than 80% of the timber it consumes annually, making it one of the world’s largest net importers of forest products. This dependence, estimated at around 81%, is described not as a trade characteristic but ...