MAKERS of Thai rubberwood furniture will prolong their presence in the European market for the next 3 to 5 years for conforming to Europe’s s new strict regulations for timber imports.
The Thai rubberwoood furniture industry has made improvements to comply with EU timber import requirements, especially since that the new Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade action plan of the European market is in place and will start in March next year.
Under the new regulations, illegal harvest of rubber timber and manufacturing products from such timber are prohibited; Thai rubber trees are now cultivated on legitimate land.
According to Luckchai Kittipol, a former chairman of the Thai Rubber Association, the Office of the Rubber Replanting Aid Fund has supported this act, funding a total of 26,000 Baht a Rai over the last six years to be used in planting rubber.
Luckhai , however, admitted that the new EU regulations could adversely affect the Thai timber and wood production industry.(RJA)
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