Manufacturers To Sign Up for NWFA Program

St. Louis, MO, Dec. 22, 2008--Fourteen manufacturer members have requested licensing agreements to begin participating in the NWFA Responsible Procurement Program.

The National Wood Flooring Association hosted a Wood Flooring Manufacturer’s Assembly in St. Louis at NWFA Headquarters on Dec. 16-17. The potential licensing agreements were the result of the meeting.

The goal of the RPP is to harness the power of the United States wood flooring industry to promote environmentally and socially responsible forest management in the regions that supply the timber on which we all depend.

The NWFA RPP provides progressive “tiers” in which participants gradually move toward higher levels of social and environmental responsibility and performance.

Tier 1 requires participation in the NWFA Verified Renewing Forests program – and enables use of the NWFA Verified Sourced from U.S. Renewing Forests label – for domestically sourced wood flooring products in off-product claims only. It also requires participation in the NWFA Verified Legal Origin program for imported products and enables use of the NWFA Verified Legal Import label. Program participants have three years to progress from Tier 1 to Tier 2.

Tier 2 recognizes companies that source their wood from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified forests and agree to increase their overall use of FSC-certified wood during the next two years. Importers advancing to Tier 2 are required to complete the NWFA Verified Legal Origin program for all products that require legality verification.

Tier 3 is the highest level of achievement within the NWFA RPP. It grants recognition to companies whose trade in FSC-certified products exceeds 50% of overall sales and whose non-FSC sales meet FSC Controlled Wood standards.