Attendees and exhibitors were still in active discussion at 3 p.m. of the last day, one hour before the tolling of the final bell at the 2011 Woodworking Machinery & Supply Expo in Toronto.
What started out as a battle pitting the U.S. Government vs. Gibson Guitar, highlighted by two federal raids and confiscation of questionable wood and guitars from its plants, has rapidly spiraled into a multi-front, war over what if anything should be done to change the Lacey Act.
Recently joining the fray is a new coalition of manufacturing companies, retailers, non-profits, and associations taking the name the Lacey Act Defense National Consensus Committee (LACNCC). The group pledges to draw up a consensus-based standard within the next four months intended to clarify the regulatory guidelines and enforcement rules of the controversial 100-year-old Lacey Act. Three years ago, the Lacey Act itself was broadened beyond its original scope to protect endangered plants and wildlife in an effort to thwart the importation of wood and wood products from illegally harvested forests.
The LACNNC has an impressive and eclectic mix of members, including: Gibson Guitar, C.F. Martin & Company, National Association of Music Merchants, Forest Stewardship Council, Rainforest Alliance, National Wood Flooring Association, Floor Covering Institute, Sustainable Furnishings Council, Williams Sonoma, Staples, Home Depot, Kimberly Clark, Columbia Forest Products, Danzer Group, Knoll Furniture, Kimberly Clark, National Wildlife Federation, Anderson Berkshire Hathaway and Capital Markets Partnership.
Richard Donovan, senior vice president of the Rainforest Alliance, explained, "Importantly, the standard has the potential to fill an important gap in terms of understanding the concept of due care as it applies to the amended Lacey Act and in doing so positively affect the conservation of forests around the world.”
How to You Spell RELIEF?
Meanwhile a battle is taking shape based on a bill recently introduced by U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN) to protect consumers from being incriminated for potentially illegal wood products they owned before the Lacey Act was amended on May 22, 2008. Under Cooper’s Retailers and Entertainers Lacey Implementation and Enforcement Fairness (RELIEF) Act, people who own wood products that violates Lacey, but are unaware that it is in violation, can't be penalized nor can the government confiscate property.
The RELIEF Act shows how groups can work together on one front but battle on another. For example, the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM), while working with the Rainforest Alliance on crafting the Lacey Act standard mentioned at the top of this blog, is on opposite sides of the fence on the RELIEF Act. NAMM is backing Cooper’s bill, while the Rainforest Alliance is aligning with a group formed to black its passage.
In a letter to members of the House of Representatives, the group offers a strong condemnation of the RELIEF Act. “A more accurate name for this bill would be the Relief for Illegal Loggers Act,” said Dr. Douglas Boucher, director of the Tropical Forest and Climate Initiative at the Union of Concerned Scientists.
In addition to the Rainforest Alliance, signers of the letter include about two dozen groups such as the Environmental Investigation Agency, Greenpeace, Natural Resources Defense Council, Rainforest Action Network, Sierra Club, The Field Museum, Saint Louis Zoo and World Wildlife Fund.
The RELIEF Act’s critics contend that the legislation would “completely exempt pulp and paper from Lacey Act requirements,” and would create fines as low as $250 for first-time Lacey Act infractions.
“This legislation puts out the welcome mat for foreign illegal logging operations and those unscrupulous operators who do business with them,” said Jake Schmidt, international climate policy director of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Meanwhile, seven other trade group incuding NAMM, the American Home Furnishings Alliance, the International Wood Products Association and the National Association of Home Builders, voiced their support for the RELIEF Act in a letter to Rep. Cooper. An exerpt: "We especially value how you have accurately identified, and are attempting to correct, several of the specific issues the business community has been raising for more than three years. Our associations have long advocated the establishment of an “innocent owner” provision within Lacey, while simultaneously supporting enhanced enforcement against the true targets of Lacey: criminals who knowingly violate the law."
In September, Woodworking Network reported on a group of wood industry associations and other groups that called a teleconference to voice support for preserving the Lacey Act. The group includes the Hardwood Federation, National Hardwood Lumber Association, Environmental Investigation Agency, United Steelworkers and Taylor Guitar.
Where this will all end, including the Department of Justice’s investigation of Gibson Guitar and attempts to amend the Lacey Act, remains to be seen.
Stay tuned.
More on Lacey Act and Gibson Guitar
Music Group Joins Fight to Amend Lacey Act
Gibson Guitar Raid: The Lacey Act Runs Amok (Blog)
Wood Industry Groups Rally to Support Lacey Act
Gibson Guitar petitions Obama to end investigation
EU Parliament acts to ban illegal wood imports
Piano firm's CEO pleads guilty to Lacey Act violations
Coalition affirms support of Lacey Act
Amended Lacey Act enforcement begins next phase
Read more of Rich Christianson's blogs.
Guest Blogs Welcome
Got a viewpoint you would like to share with our online woodworking community? Woodworking Network welcomes guest blogs from wood products professionals. Submit your opinions to Rich Christianson, Editor at Large, at rchristianson@vancepublishing.com.
Rich Christianson is Associate Publisher and Editor at Large of Woodworking Network. During his 25+ years covering the wood products industry, Rich has toured hundreds of manufacturing plants throughout North America, Europe and Asia. His reporting has covered everything from the state of the industry and impact of wood imports to technology and environmental issues. In his current capacity he is responsible for editing the daily Woodworking Network Update newsletter and coordinating events including the annual Closets & Home Organization Conference & Expo and the Canada’s biennial Woodworking Machinery & Supply Expo.
COMMENTS (1)
Bill
Report AbuseI think it is a crying shame that Obama and his goones (Democrates) cannot find better ways to spend our tax
dollars then to hammer an other company out of business.
Obama and the Demo's have done much more underhanded things then Gibson Guitar might have done.
Push back and vote this gang out of the white house.
Nothing but thugs. Cannot get their way they just have King Obama sign it into law.
Regards.
Bill