Jun 27 2008
Time To Know Your Wood Products’ Origins
The on again, off again Farm Bill has been passed and represents an almost historical event since it may be the only time both houses of this Congress have managed to over ride a presidential veto. Anybody who reads the bill would come away wondering about many of the expenditures because even though the title is Farm Bill there is an awful lot in it that has little to do with farms.
Included in the bill is an amendment to the U.S. Lacey Act. This famous legislation was enacted in 1900 and was originally aimed at protecting wildlife in the U.S. from illegal commercial hunting. In later years it has been used to combat illegal fishing in U.S. waters and is the primary law targeting illegal interstate, or foreign, trade in illegally-taken species. This most recent amendment to the act targets the importation of illegally harvested forest products.
The forestry industry has been behind this all the way, along with the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and others. The EIA has some interesting undertakings including an effort to stop the creation and sale of tiger bone wine.
Currently, all the illegally acquired forest products across the globe compete with legal forest products in the marketplace. So, as we all know, things that are illegal often have a cheaper price tag than those things that are legal. That creates a market for them that undercuts the sales of the legal products.
One report estimates that U.S. forestry companies loose $460 million a year because of these illegal products flooding the world market. But perhaps the greatest damage is what it does to the world’s forests and the people and other life forms that rely on them. Deforestation is also blamed for 20 percent of the global annual green house gas increases.
Now, anyone who imports wood products to the U.S. will have to prove they are from legal sources and will also have to declare the species and country of origin for any plant or plant product.
This is a piece of legislation that appears to make everyone happy. It also represents a step by the U.S. to once again begin to lead the world, instead of trying to drag it. That’s because the enactment of this amendment to the Lacey Act makes the U.S. the first country in the world to ban the import, sale or trade of an illegally harvested commodity.
And that is certainly cause for reflection.
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