U.S. Increases Formaldehyde Standard Flooring Exports by 150%

Not long ago, the United States "Formaldehyde Standards Bill for Compound Wood Products" was formally implemented, which stipulated that the formaldehyde release limits for wood products such as particleboard, medium-density fiberboard and hardwood plywood supplied, sold or manufactured in the United States have been greatly increased. Taking particleboard as an example, the amount of formaldehyde released must not exceed 0.09 mg/kg, which is 1,000 times higher than our national standard.

The implementation of this "Act" poses a great challenge to China's export of wood products to the United States, and it also has a significant impact on the export of wood products from Yantai City. The reporter received information from the Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau of Yantai. So far, the city has exported a total of 3004 batches of wood products worth US$ 63.65 million, which is 11.39% and 15% lower than the same period.

Wood products are mainly exported to Southeast Asia and Europe and the United States In recent years, the proportion of wood products exported from Yantai to the European and American markets has gradually increased, which has accounted for 1/3 of the total exports of the city, but this year's export situation is not optimistic. . “This aspect is affected by the sluggish economic situation in some European countries and the United States. On the other hand, it is also affected by the United States “Compound Wood Products Formaldehyde Standards Act.” Yantai Inspection and Quarantine Bureau People said that Southeast Asia and Europe and the United States are currently the main areas for the export of Yantai wood products, with a total of more than 90%. The wood products exported to Europe and the United States are mainly decorated with houses, such as doors, windows, and floors, while the wood products exported to countries such as Southeast Asia are mainly finished furniture such as tables and chairs.

Increase in automation of production enterprises In recent years, affected by the economic crisis, the export growth of wood products in our city has slowed down, coupled with the impact of foreign environmental and technical barriers, the export enterprises of our city have faced pressure in the past two years.

“There are currently 86 companies registered with us, of which there are more than 50 companies that often have export business, and the scale is relatively large.” The responsible person for supervision of the wood control superintendent of the Phytosanitary Bureau stated that the development from the past few years As for the trend, the degree of automation of wood export enterprises in our city has been significantly improved.

A person in charge of a wood product export company stated that the old idea that woodworking could be done with an ax and a saw was outdated. Now almost every company has added a lot of machines. Many programs do not require workers to personally Hands-on, as long as the input of relevant data, there will be machines to do it. “Now the production time of some spare parts has been reduced by more than one time, and the improvement of the degree of automation is also in line with the development trend of the export of wood products. With the increasing complexity of the specifications and scales of various parts and components, manual work alone cannot be sufficient. Therefore, improving the automation of production not only improves the production efficiency and accuracy, but also saves a lot of labor. Several small businesses were eliminated because of the low level of automation and the difficulty in meeting the export requirements."

In the first half of the year, all 585 batches of imported wood packaging products were found to be exported. They must be inspected by the Inspection and Quarantine Bureau and explained by the person in charge of supervision of the wood control superintendent of the phytosanitary department. They generally pass through plants and animals and weeds. , formaldehyde, heavy metals and other nearly ten tests.

“The supervision and inspection of wood products is not only carried out at the time of export, but it has already been carried out since the timber was cut.” The responsible person for supervision of the wood control superintendent of the phytosanitary department stated that from the felled trees to the processing Paints, glues, etc. used must show a certificate of conformity before they can pass inspections. For example, pure solid wood furniture needs to be inspected by items such as formaldehyde and paint. Products exported to EU countries need to be tested by heavy metals, microbes, etc. Some developed countries have begun to require some furniture to obtain forest certification. Similarly, imported wood products must undergo rigorous testing before they can enter the market. According to statistics, in the first half of the year Yantai Bureau detected a total of 585 batches of unqualified wooden packaging, and the detection rate increased by 10%.