Tong Tana - Bruno Manser Fonds

Switzerland: Why a mandatory
declaration of wood
Why a mandatory declaration for wood
bm – In Switzerland the manufacture of
doors consumes the most tropical wood. 95%
of all veneered doors conceal undeclared
tropical wood under veneer/paint or aluminium.
Even carpenters which expressly
order pinewood doors receive wrongly declared
doors containing concealed tropical
wood like the raw door type shown here from
Entla AG in Entlebuch.
Very cheap picture frames from tropical wood
in the “Bastelzentrum” in Berne (large handicraft
shop). Neither species nor origin of the
wood is declared. A local craftsman would have
to demand ten times the price just to cover costs!
“Entla” door on the Bundesplatz in Berne
The issue is the
consumer’s
right to objective
information.
Neither the
handicraft shop
“Bastelzentrum”
nor Spiess/IDEA
declare illustrated
commodities
according to
species and origin.
All products
are made of
local wood such
as beech, maple
and lime-wood, presumably from Swiss
forests. A clear declaration in this case would
be an advantage on the mark
Claraspital (a hospital) in Basel: Like most
doors in Swiss hospitals, these are made of
tropical wood.
Like in this “forest cherry” chest of drawers
from the furniture shop Yverdon in Berne, the
interior and back sides of many pieces consist
of tropical wood, undeclared of course!
11