Technology Can Find Lacey Act Violations

Washington, DC, Nov. 19, 2010 -- The amended U.S. Lacey Act has already impacted the wood industry, from the investigation of Gibson Guitars to a recently-reported seizure of Peruvian hardwood. Both of these cases involved solid wood products.

Now, technology is available to detect illegal wood even in paper, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. And the EPA warns the technology may be used to detect illegal wood in other kinds of products.

The agency sent paper samples from 32 imported paper products to an independent fiber analysis laboratory. Samples came from stationery, paper bags, cardboard boxes, toilet paper, facial tissue paper, wrapping paper, and books—including pages, glossy cover sleeves, and cardboard from hardback covers. All products were purchased from stores and outlets in the U.S.

With fiber analysis, scientists use high powered microscopes to look at plant fibers and vessels in a snippet of paper to identify what types of trees were used to make it. 

In one example, the tests identified vessels with anatomical features consistent with those of ramin (Gonystylus spp) in a page of a coffee table book and in the cover paper of a children’s book. Ramin trees have been protected internationally since 2003.