The Softwood Lumber Dispute
The Softwood Lumber Agreement, which provided stability and predictability for the industry in both Canada and the United States, has expired on October 12, 2015. Since then, we have:
- Hosted conference call with members where we explained the potential repercussions;
- Created a new Trade Advisory Committee, which works to provide insight and guidance on the CWPCA’s position with regards to this specific issue;
- Gathered data on dollar value of exports into the US on products covered by the Scope of Investigations and total board footage of softwood lumber used to build those products;
- Attended the United States International Trade Commission (USITC) Preliminary Investigation in Washington, DC;
- Worked with Global Affairs Canada to advise them on the repercussions of these potential duties on the North American wood packaging industry;
- Regularly described the impact on our industry to our members through our Bark Bits monthly newsletter.
Lacey Act
In March 2020, the US Department of Agriculture announced that it would include HTS code 4415 (assembled pallets, crates, sub assembled crates, cable reels, etc) in the scope of the Lacey Act. The latter is legislation which serves to prevent the sale and trade of endangered species, including lumber. If this inclusion were to pass, pallets and other wood packaging sold as a commodity to U.S. consumers could be subject to the need for a declaration of Genus, Species and Origin of the wood used to build the products. We anticipate that this inclusion would cause a significant amount of problem for Canadian exporters as lumber species are difficult to determine in new wood packaging and near impossible in used packaging.
Consequently, we have been working to fight against the inclusion by:
- Gathering data on the volumes of Canadian wood packaging (new and used) sold to US consumers as well as the volumes of US lumber being sold to Canadian WPM manufacturers
- Working with the Canadian federal government, including Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), Global Affairs Canada (GAC), the Canadian Forest Service, as well as the Government of British Columbia and the Canadian Forest Products Working Group to appeal to USDA
- Collaborating with the National Wooden Pallet and Container Association, our American counterparts
- Submitting data and arguments against the inclusion to NRCan and GAC, who included this with the Canadian Government submission to USDA
- Coordinating a letter writing campaign with other industry stakeholders such as the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Canada Wood, and the Canadian Lumber Standards Accrediation Board, Quebec Forest Industries Council, Quebec Wood Export Bureau
Changes In Legislation And Regulations
The main purpose of our Association is to represent the Canadian wood packaging industry, our members, and the products we manufacture. We do this by advocating on their behalf on issues that will affect them, such as the Waste Free Ontario Act, and by promoting wood packaging over those made of competing materials.
We represent our members and their interests at the following events and meetings:
- International Forestry Quarantine Research Group (IFQRG) meeting
- NWPCA Annual Leadership Conference;
- WPA Annual Meeting;
- North American Plant Protection Organization (NAPPO) Annual Meeting
- The Continental Dialogue on Non-Native Forests Insects and Diseases
For a backgrounder on the Canadian wood packaging industry and the challenges it faces, click
here.
