By Matthew Spieler
SHANGHAI—Officials from the world’s major wood flooring associations and supplier countries gathered once again during the Domotex asia/ChinaFloor (DACF) to discuss and find common solutions to some of the various issues facing the category.

The third annual Sino-U.S.-Europe Flooring summit featured representatives from organizations such as the National Wood Flooring Association ( NWFA), the China National Forestry Product Industry Association (CNFPIA) and the European Federation of Parquet Importers (EFPI).

Thomas Baert, co-founder of DACF, said the purpose of the meeting is “not for the participants to talk about each other, but rather to talk to each other.” He added there are numerous questions and concerns from each party when it comes to environmental and legal issues, and the hope is for the summit “to be a platform for the exchange of information.”

While many items were discussed, the big topic was the U.S. government’s expanded Lacey Act, which was enacted in December and will be officially phased in starting this month through September.

Ed Korzack, NWFA’s executive director, tried to calm concerns by noting the Lacey Act is not meant to be a protectionist law as many around the world fear, but rather a way to ensure that wood harvested in other countries is done in compliance with that country’s laws. “It’s not about U.S. laws but the laws of the country of harvest. The U.S. wants to buy wood products from other countries, but it wants it to be legally. Lacey doesn’t look at sustainability; it looks for the legal harvest of wood using the wood’s home country’s laws.”

David Zhong, chairman of DACF co-owner VNU, said the aim of the summits is to promote communication between high-ranking leaders in the wood floor covering world. “These summits help promote communication and exchange for industrial development in this sector, and we hope to have even more leaders from around the world participate in this event in future summits.”

(Editor’s note: FCNews will have more extensive coverage of DACF in an upcoming issue.)