Published on : Saturday, March 29, 2014
On March 25, 2014 a series of meetings were held by the representatives of the British furniture industry with European Commission officials to discuss UK furniture manufacturing issues across a range of topics.
The delegation from the British Furniture Confederation, included BFC chairman Paul von der Heyde, Jackie Bazeley, managing director of the British Furniture Manufacturers (BFM), Jessica Alexander, executive director of the National Bed Federation (NBF) and Phil Reynolds, chief operating officer of the Furniture Industry Research Association (FIRA).
Meetings were held with DG Environment officials responsible for the EU Timber Regulations, Chemicals, REACH and biocides regulations, and the waste management and recycling unit; while flammability regulations and the review of the General Product Safety Regulations were brought up with the deputy head of product and service safety at DG Health and Consumers.
On EU timber regulations, the BFC received a sympathetic ear to its concerns and suggestions about the exclusion of seats and clarification of non-wood species within the regulations and learned that all member states must report on the effectiveness and efficiency of the regulations by March 2015, while in the interim the department would be asking for feedback on what sanctions were being put in place across Europe and what is being done with any seized timber by mid May of this year.
Discussions regarding chemicals and REACH confirmed that UK furniture industry must be aware that a constant eye is being cast over identifying all potentially hazardous chemicals, with key triggers being solely harm to the environment or to human health. A better understanding of the how a chemical is nominated as a Substance of Very High Concern (SVHC) was a key outcome of the meeting, as well as the potential routes to minimise the impact of such a listing were key outcomes of the meeting, which will ensure UK industry is alerted to potential areas of concern much earlier in the process.
Finally the BFC learned that the European Parliament will take an initial vote on proposed amendments* to the General Product Safety Directive in April (and provided a link to the proposals) although further discussion will need to take place subsequently on contentious issues such as a Country of Origin identification requirement for improved traceability. As 26% of product recalls cannot be traced back to the producer, beefed up traceability requirements are likely to be inevitable. In future the emphasis is going to be more about ‘Seller Beware’ rather than ‘Buyer Beware’.
Not unexpectedly it was confirmed that there were no plans to introduce furniture fire safety regulations Europe-wide and that there was a preferred emphasis on the reduction of FR chemicals. The BFC now plans to return to Brussels in the autumn to continue discussions with the policy makers as well – i.e. newly elected MEPs in the European Parliament.
Tags: BFC, BFC chairman Paul von der Heyde, european commission, FIRA, Jackie Bazeley, National Bed Federation (NBF), UK furniture
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