Demand for timber is increasing steadily around the world. This leads to more illegal logging. The EU’s Timber Regulation came into force in 2013 with the aim of protecting forests worldwide and keeping them usable for future generations. It regulates both the due diligence obligations of market participants and the roles of monitoring organisations and the responsible national authorities of EU member states.

The Regulation requires those placing their products on the EU internal market for the first time to prove that their timber and timber products were harvested legally. This must be documented in compliance with corporate due diligence obligations. The due diligence system covers the three elements of access to information, risk assessment and risk mitigation. Traders buying or selling timber or timber products already on the internal market must also ensure traceability.

In the scope of the Regulation, timber and timber products certified under the EU's action plan Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) or the provisions of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) are considered legal.