Compliance courses for North American importers

ABSTRACT

This article presents compliance courses made by the International Wood Products Association (IWPA) for the Lacey Act and other laws affecting the wood-products industry. The training encourages importers to work closely with suppliers to ensure they have access to the information needed to understand the rules and conduct robust due diligence. The course was crafted in the hope that it would help develop an industry-wide class of wood trade compliance professionals. The initial compliance and due-diligence course in 2016 was extremely well-received, it led to a series of more advanced courses, comprising, "Advanced Wood Trade Compliance", "Audits for the Wood Trade Professional", "Wood Products Supply Chain Mapping Basics", and "Formaldehyde Emissions Regulations for the Wood Trade Professional". IWPA has conducted briefings and training for suppliers worldwide, partnering with organizations, such as the International Tropical Timber Technical Association, the Global Timber Forum, the Malaysia Timber Council, and several Chinese industry associations. The global COVID-19 pandemic has led IWPA to re-examine how stakeholders access its wood-trade compliance training courses. In the due-diligence space, travel restrictions are requiring that wood-product importers re-evaluate their due-diligence procedures to ensure they continue to meet the requirements of the Lacey Act and other relevant laws and regulations. IWPA will continue to update its courses to reflect the new reality. In particular, and for the first time, it will offer courses virtually and via IWPA's e-learning platform in the second half of 2020.