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At last fall's 4th Annual Print Buyers Conference, Gary Jones delivered a keynote on what constitutes a sustainable printing company. Gary is an industry-acknowledged expert in sustainable printing. He is the director of the environmental, health and safety (EHS) affairs at the Printing Industries of America near Pittsburgh, PA. His primary responsibility is to monitor and analyze EHS regulatory activities at all government levels and provide representation on behalf of the printing industry. Towards the end of his keynote, Gary introduced the crowd to the little-known Lacey Act. |
It really caught my attention as something that print buyers and print designers need to know about. So I asked Gary 10 questions about this key piece of federal legislation.
- Gary, in a nutshell, what is the Lacey Act - and
why does it matter to print customers?
The Lacey Act was enacted in 1900 and is the primary law that prohibited trade in illegally captured animals and wildlife products such as hunting to supply commercial markets, interstate shipment of unlawfully killed game, and introduction of harmful exotic species and killing of birds for feather trade. In May 2008, the Act was amended to extend this protection to prohibit all trade in plant and plant products (e.g., furniture, paper, or lumber) that are illegally sourced from any U.S. state or any foreign country.
The Act requires importers to declare country of origin for harvest and species of all plants contained in product. The deadline for paper is being phased in and takes effect April 1, 2010 to September 1, 2010. The declaration requires the following information:
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Scientific name of plant (including genus & species)
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Value of importation
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Quantity of the plant
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Name of the country in which the plant was harvested
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Paper and paperboard products with recycled content require the average percent recycled content without regard for species/country of harvest
The Lacey Act is significant in that the authority granted to the U.S. government means that it can now seek jail time, levy fines, and seize goods for those who violate the law. The potential for enforcement is not limited strictly to those companies that make products or sell illegally harvested goods - but to those who actually receive them.
For the full Q&A with Gary Jones, and his answers to the rest of my questions, please read today's Print Tip online.
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©2010 Gary Jones and Margie Dana. All rights reserved. Your comments are encouraged. You're free to forward this email to friends and colleagues. However, no part of this column may be reprinted without permission from the author.
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