FEBO held its last Board Meeting for this year on October 19 th in Wiesbaden. Hereafter are mentioned some of the main items that were discussed.
FEBO wants to draw the attention to the problem of formaldehyde emissions of wood-based panels.
The IARC (International agency for research on cancer) classifies formaldehyde as carcinogenic to human. Formaldehyde is used in the production of resins that are used as adhesives and binders for wood based products (OSB,MDF, chipboards). The EN standard prescribes an emission of 0,1 ppm. (E1 standard). Nevertheless a fact is that it may happen that even these E1 classified panels in indoor application can cause problems with the formaldehyde emission, for example in school rooms. Therefore some voluntary quality initiatives are asking for an emission of 0,03 ppm or even less. FEBO wants to support this initiative, following the advise of Professor Marutzky of the Wilhelm-Klauditz-institute.
FEBO supports the FSC label for controlled wood
Besides the label 100 % FSC (Products with a 100 % FSC label come from forests certified as meeting the environmental and social standards of FSC), another label has been created: FSC - mixed sources. Products with a mixed sources label support the development of responsible forest management worldwide. The wood partially comes from FSC certified well managed forests and partially from non FSC-certified but controlled sources. Company controlled sources are controlled, in accordance with FSC standards, to exclude illegally harvested timber, forests where high conservation values are threatened, genetically modified organisms and violation of people's civil and traditional rights.
FEBO President, Jörg Reimer, remarked that this FSC label is a very good tool to combat trade in illegally harvested timber.
FEBO will hold its next General Assembly in the frame of the organisation of a Timber Trade Congress. This will happen on September first and second 2006 in Basel (Switserland). This congress will deal with aspects as:
the evolution in the Flegt process
the new FSC standard (with Dr. Heiko Liedeker, Director of FSC as a speaker)
FEBOs co-operation with wood related organizations in EU
FEBO supports the initiative in France concerning the financing of promotion
A new financing modus for the promotion was created in France This consists of a compulsory contribution by the first transformation level into a fund Association Bois-Forêt. The contribution is as follows :
On standing volume: 0,15 %
On harvested timber: 0,33%
On sales to industry and sawmills: 0,25% THE FEBO Code of Conduct has been implemented on the National level in Switzerland
|
|
Nachricht versenden
Druckversion
