EU new regulations will affect Chinese furniture export industry

The furniture industry may be another industry that has suffered setbacks in the EU market following Chinese medicine. The EU "Country of Origin Labelling Act" which came into effect on March 3, 2013 has had an impact on Chinese furniture exporters.

According to informed sources, the “Country of Origin Labeling Act” is similar to the “Lass Act” introduced by the United States last year to ensure that buyers clearly know the origin of imported raw materials sold in Europe. The law requires that wood products imported into the EU market must obtain the FSC “identity card”, which means that the wood purchased by the production enterprise is produced from the legally-developed forest.

According to report, as some Chinese companies import logs and timber products from countries such as Russia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea, and many of them have illegal logging problems, European log ID requirements may make Some furniture companies missed orders.

Some industry insiders who export furniture have stated that China’s exports of furniture from the European Union account for more than one-third of the country’s global furniture exports. The introduction of this provision will make it difficult for 30% of furniture exporters to enter the EU market. In other words, furniture made of wood without an "identity card" will not be exported to the EU.

According to reports, the use of "illegal logs" is concentrated on SMEs and they will suffer more serious consequences. A person in charge of the company, who did not wish to be named, reluctantly said, “We can only abandon the EU market and resell it in places like East Asia.” The responsible person also told reporters that as small and medium-sized enterprises, they can only rely on low prices. To attract the attention of customers, if they buy the logs of so-called "ID cards" from European and American countries, they will lose their competitive advantage and be difficult to establish in the market.

“Furthermore, even if the logs from Europe and the United States were purchased, companies could not afford the verification fees. A certification fee would be 30,000 to 50,000 yuan, and it would be certified once a year,” the person in charge said.