NEWS

A Washington cabinet importer pled guilty to making false declarations about the species and harvest location of timber used in five shipping containers' worth of wooden cabinets and vanities. The products, fraudulently declared as a false species of wood harvested in Malaysia, were made of wood harvested in China and were produced in China. In addition to paying $850,000 in outstanding duties, the company was fined $350,000 and is now on probation.

China's increasing reliance on Russian timber is a major risk to the world's supply chain for plywood products. Russia is ramping up plywood production; exports to China have surged by more than 344%.

We regret to inform you that Bill Groah, respected hardwoods industry expert, has passed. In 1958, Bill went to work for DHA's predecessor organization. Bill worked for DHA for 38 years as a wood technologist and oversaw all laboratory and technical activities until his retirement in 1996. His work and expertise in the effects of formaldehyde led to multiple consultations and the crafting of regulations.

The American Hardwood Export Council is working hard to develop the framework that will allow U.S. exporters of hardwoods, before the end of this year, to provide a robust due diligence statement to demonstrate that each shipment of wood is from legal, deforestation-free sources. That said, after a heavy investment of time and effort to create a solution that complies fully with the EUDR, AHEC has concluded that some requirements of the regulation are essentially impossible for the U.S.

U.S. imports of engineered wood flooring have increased, yet again. Year-to-date through May, imports were up by more than 12% in value and 7.6% in volume. Imports from Vietnam led, as the value of imports from Vietnam grew by almost 25% to more than $102 million.

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