Association of Furniture and Woodworking Enterprises of Russia proposed to include birch veneer and particleboard in the list of goods subject to compulsory registration in EGAIS Les system

The Association is of the opinion that this measure will help to civilize the domestic market of wood raw materials, provide domestic plywood mills with them, and contribute to the fight against illegal furniture makers.

In February 2021, the Association asked the Minister of Industry and Trade of Russia for assistance in the stabilization of supplies of raw materials to domestic plywood mills. In the context of the ruble devaluation, many suppliers of semi-finished products required for the production of plywood and birch veneer terminated supplies to the domestic market and completely re-oriented sales towards foreign ones, which resulted in a shortage of raw materials that plywood mills faced in H2 2020.

The Association intends to propose a similar measure for particleboard. “We expect that corresponding amendments to the rules and regulations can be already introduced by April 2021. Inclusion of birch veneer and particleboard in EGAIS Les (Unified State Automated Information System for Timber Accounting) will not entail any additional expenses for enterprises and thus will not affect the production cost of these products,” said Timur Irtuganov, Director General of the Association.