Compliance Training Courses for North American Importers

Compliance Training Courses

for North American Importers

(Published in partnership with the International Tropical Timber Organisation’s Tropical Forest Update) Training offered by the International Wood Products Association is helping importers and producers develop processes for meeting legality requirements by Cindy L. Squires Executive Director, International Wood Products Association, Washington, DC, USA

A consistent concern for importers of wood products in the United States of America (US) is ensuring they have processes for complying with the requirements of the Lacey Act—a law that, like similar laws in several other wood-product-consuming nations, prohibits the importation of products made from illegally harvested wood.

ON BEHALF OF THE GLOBAL WOOD-PRODUCTS TRADE: IWPA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR CINDY SQUIRES MAKES AN INTERVENTION AT THE 55TH SESSION OF THE INTERNATIONAL TROPICAL TIMBER COUNCIL IN NOVEMBER 2019. PHOTO: R. CARRILLO/ITTO

As a US-based international trade association that works to build acceptance and demand in North America for globally sourced wood products from sustainably managed forests, the International Wood Products Association (IWPA) saw an opportunity to advance its mission. Consequently, it developed training courses to give participants the tools and information they need for creating compliance strategies for the Lacey Act and other laws affecting the wood-products industry. IWPA is uniquely placed to lead such an effort with its focus on entire marketing chains for wood products destined for the North American market. IWPA works closely with its overseas members to provide them with the information they need to be successful in the market and to promote the use of globally sourced wood products. Additionally, IWPA seeks to ensure that the global wood-products trade has a seat at the table in important international discussions. IWPA actively participates in ITTO meetings as well as in the Plants Committee and relevant working groups of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). A driving focus of these efforts is to provide policymakers with crucial information on the trade as well as technical guidance so that CITES listings can be implemented fairly and efficiently. This work helps avoid unnecessary disruptions in the trade while protecting vulnerable resources. For example, IWPA advocated for the exemption of plantation-grown products from the Cedrela listing, thereby ensuring that scarce conservation resources are directed towards threatened natural neotropical populations.

Compliance Through Education

IWPA convened its first Wood Trade Compliance Training and Due Diligence Resources Course in 2016, thereby beginning its training of industry professionals across the US. The course had been nearly a year in development, with the steadfast support of IWPA members and help from the World Resources Institute and the US Agency for International Development.

At the beginning of course development, many hoped for a simple, one-size-fits-all solution that would allow importers to easily institute complete due-diligence plans and then move on to other pressing matters. It immediately became clear, however, that the imported-wood-products industry is too varied and complex for that to be a realistic possibility. Instead, the course was developed to inform compliance professionals about wood-product-specific laws and regulations—such as due care under the Lacey Act, formaldehyde emissions limits for composite wood products, and CITES requirements—and how these can dovetail with the other quality assurance and compliance tasks that companies complete on a daily basis.

The training encourages importers to work closely with suppliers to ensure they have access to the information needed to understand the rules and conduct robust due diligence. After completing the initial course, one attendee said, “We are revamping our entire Lacey program, including doing a general overhaul of our procedures. We even went to Asia and conducted a Lacey training with our suppliers so they could understand what we are looking for”.

The course was crafted in the hope that it would help develop an industry-wide class of wood trade compliance professionals. Although information on suppliers and marketing plans is necessarily proprietary, and the implementation of a due-diligence plan is specific to each company’s position in the marketplace, the universe of due-diligence tools and resources is common to the entire industry. IWPA plays a crucial role in ensuring that association members, and the industry as a whole, has access to the latest and most complete information so that companies can make informed decisions about what their due-diligence plans should include. The course has helped foster and connect a new corps of compliance professionals armed with the latest knowledge and resources to enable their companies—from the smallest family businesses to huge multinational corporations—to import wood products confidently.

“WE ARE REVAMPING OUR ENTIRE LACEY PROGRAM, INCLUDING DOING A GENERAL OVERHAUL OF OUR PROCEDURES. WE EVEN WENT TO ASIA AND CONDUCTED A LACEY TRAINING WITH OUR SUPPLIERS SO THEY COULD UNDERSTAND WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR.”

AN ATTENDEE, AFTER COMPLETING THE INITIAL COURSE

Advanced Courses Added

The initial compliance and due-diligence course in 2016 was extremely well-received; it led to a series of more advanced courses, comprising, “Advanced Wood Trade Compliance,” “Audits for the Wood Trade Professional,” “Wood Products Supply Chain Mapping Basics,” and “Formaldehyde Emissions Regulations for the Wood Trade Professional”. Exit surveys of attendees have made it clear that they want as much information and instruction as they can get their hands on.

A Global Partnership

IWPA has conducted briefings and training for suppliers worldwide, partnering with a host of organizations, including the International Tropical Timber Technical Association, the Global Timber Forum, the Malaysia Timber Council, and several Chinese industry associations, among others. IWPA believes that wood-product end-users and overseas producers must work together to improve understanding of the demands of the modern marketplace and to drive critically needed innovation.