UK plywood suppliers have welcomed a decision by Indonesian plywood advisory group APKINDO to standardise marking for products bound for Europe.
The group, whose members include all the main Indonesian plywood factories, has issued a notice instructing that buyers requesting unmarked panels not complying with the BB/CC standard ‘must be refused’.
APKINDO is also telling members that plywood marked BB/CC for Europe must be in accordance with BB/CC British Standard 6568:1985. Crate and panel marking must be stated clearly and relate to the product being exported.
The regulator says it has acted because of the bad image of some Indonesian plywood and stagnation of prices created by mis-marking of products.
John Pickford, managing director of Mendip Plywood, said: ‘It’s very important because there are lots of grades marked as BB/CC which are not BB/CC. If they standardise the way plywood is marked, then people will know.’
He said the challenge would be to police the system.
Tim Foster of the Tiger Group, a Far East plywood agent, said a few people in the UK were making ‘big money’ selling mis-marked plywood but believes APKINDO’s move would help solve the problem.
Meanwhile, Mr Pickford has suggested to the Timber Trade Federation (TTF) that Chinese plywood currently marketed as from the ‘Far East’ be changed to state the country of origin.
Mr Pickford said the poor quality of some products may lead to problems and affect the image of other Asian plywood.
Malcolm Cowley, chairman of the TTF’s National Panels Products Division (NPPD), agrees that clearer marking would help the end user and promises to raise the issue at the next NPPD meeting.
