Wood Declaration 2024: Only One Quarter of Companies Compliant
The number of companies correctly declaring wood and wood products has declined compared to the previous year, and the quality of wood declarations varies by sector. This is shown by the review of inspections carried out by the Federal Office for Consumer Affairs (FOCA) in 2024.
In the past year, the FOCA conducted 102 inspections under the Wood Declaration Ordinance.
As in previous years, the focus was on companies where the risk of inadequate declaration was assessed as particularly high.
Results of the 2024 Inspections
In 2024, 25.5 percent (previous year: 41 percent) of the audited companies declared everything correctly. In 23.5 percent of companies (previous year: 26 percent), products were partially correctly declared, and in 51 percent of companies (previous year: 33 percent), not a single inspected product was fully and correctly declared. In total, 1’010 products were reviewed (previous year: 858), of which 39 percent were correctly declared (previous year: 64 percent).
Looking at the results by sector, the situation is as follows: Of the 102 inspections carried out in 2024, the quality of declarations improved slightly at DIY stores and remained the same at furniture retailers. In these two sectors, which by far distribute the most wood products to consumers, approximately three quarters and two thirds of products respectively were correctly declared. By contrast, results deteriorated for garden centres/nurseries, specialist furniture retailers, joinery businesses, mail-order companies, and carpentry firms. These businesses are often SMEs that sell comparatively few wood products to consumers, but have contributed significantly to the deterioration of the overall result.
Administrative Penalty Proceedings and Fines
The Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER) conducted administrative criminal proceedings against the responsible persons and imposed fines in approximately two thirds of the companies whose products were objected to by the FCCO. In about one third of these companies, only minor violations of the declaration requirements were found. The EAER assessed these cases as particularly minor and imposed no sanctions.
The productive cooperation with the companies resulted in them correcting the erroneous declarations within the set deadlines and, following the conclusion of the inspection, informing consumers correctly about the wood declaration. The FCCO did not need to issue a correction order. More on the Environmental and Nature Protection.
The FCCO continues to call on companies to maintain and, where necessary, intensify their efforts to ensure better compliance with the regulations for the declaration of wood.
The FCCO not only carries out inspections to ensure that wood is declared in accordance with the regulations, but also supports companies in implementing the wood declaration: Advice from the FCCO helps to avoid deficient declarations, whether in physical retail premises or in online shops.
The ordinance on the declaration of wood and wood products, in force since 2012, requires that the wood species and origin be declared when wood and wood products are sold to consumers. Round wood, raw timber, and certain solid wood products are subject to the declaration requirement. This also applies to firewood and charcoal. This ordinance complements the Timber Trade Ordinance (TTO), which aims to prevent illegal timber from entering Switzerland.
