IWPA Hosts Washington, DC Fall Fly-In

The Worldwide Wooden Merchandise Affiliation (IWPA) will host its fall fly-in for members in Washington, DC September 19-21. Attendees will collect on the Outdated City Hilton in Alexandria, VA for 3 days of legislative briefings on developments throughout a variety of home and worldwide points impacting the imported wooden business. Members will then ascend Capitol Hill for conferences with lawmakers and employees.

“The annual IWPA Fly-In is a useful occasion for our members to immediately interact with their representatives on the crucial points dealing with the imported woods business,” stated IWPA Govt Director Ashley Amidon.“It’s a nice alternative to speak how the legislative and regulatory panorama impacts us as we meet our commitments to constructing acceptance and demand for the legally-sourced and sustainable wooden merchandise.”

Roughly 30 IWPA members will attend the three-day occasion. Greater than fifteen legislative conferences have been scheduled to debate points together with:

• CITES and the upcoming CoP19– A subset of wooden merchandise imports are topic to worldwide commerce laws imposed by the Conference on Worldwide Commerce in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is presently getting ready for the upcoming nineteenth Assembly of the Convention of the Events (CoP19), throughout which nations occasion to CITES will come collectively evaluation implementation of the Conference and think about proposals to impose further commerce restrictions on new species. IWPA is collaborating within the FWS’s ongoing stakeholder outreach to tell improvement of its negotiating positions for CoP19, and inspiring advocacy on behalf of sound, science-based choices that keep away from pointless restrictions on commerce in legally- and sustainably-sourced wooden merchandise.

• Lacey Act compliance– IWPA helps compliance with all relevant legal guidelines and laws. Sadly, the implementation of the Lacey Act could differ from supply nation to supply nation, port to port, and even enforcement officer to enforcement officer. This usually causes delays in shipments and prices important cash even when no wrongdoing is ever discovered. IWPA is asking for clear steering from Fish and Wildlife to importers and to its officers in order that these kind of delays could be prevented.

• Retroactive renewal of the Generalized System of Preferences Program (GSP)– The Generalized System of Preferences program eliminates duties for 1000’s of merchandise comparable to plywood from qualifying creating international locations. Applied to supply “commerce, not help,” this system gives significant and predictable responsibility financial savings for quite a few sectors, together with wooden importers and our clients, whereas fostering financial development in creating international locations. GSP expired December 31, 2020 and IWPA requests that Congress retroactively reauthorize this important program. U.S. firms have paid greater than $140 million in further tariffs on wooden merchandise attributable to GSP expiration. 66% of tariffs have been on plywood utilized by U.S. producers like RVs and homebuilders, adopted by tariffs on picket doorways and joinery (22%) utilized by homebuilders. When GSP shouldn’t be licensed, prices are borne by US firms and customers.

About The Worldwide Wooden Merchandise Affiliation

Established in 1956, the Worldwide Wooden Merchandise Affiliation (www.IWPAwood.org) is the main worldwide commerce affiliation for the North American imported wooden merchandise business, representing 220 firms and commerce associations engaged within the import of hardwoods and softwoods from sustainably managed forests. Affiliation members encompass three key teams concerned within the import course of: U.S. importers and consuming industries, offshore producers and the service suppliers that facilitate commerce.