The International Wood Products Association (IWPA) has announced another date for its due care training program for wood trade professionals. The training program, “Seeing the Forest and the Trees,” will help participants establish standard operating procedures to comply with the Lacey Act and is designed for CEOs, CFOs, buyers, compliance staff, customs specialists, sales staff, overseas producers and exporters.
The day-long course will take place Wednesday, August 30 in South Bend, Ind., and will arm professionals buying and selling wood products with the latest information about resources and procedures to tailor a compliance system for their own market niche. Previous attendees reported a “sense of confidence when filling out documents” and learning new ways to update their compliance procedures. Based on feedback after attending a course, 100% of attendees who responded felt the course was helpful in their daily work and more than half refer back to their training manual regularly.
The course was developed in partnership with the World Resources Institute using U.S. Agency for International Development funding. The course provides attendees with a comprehensive understanding of the requirements of the Lacey Act as well as other important laws relevant to the trade in wood products including regulations on formaldehyde, CITES, and customs audits.
“We’re thrilled with the interest and response on this important training program,” said Cindy Squires, IWPA executive director. “Industry leaders are taking compliance requirements across a range of regulations very seriously. As previous attendees have found, there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to sourcing and compliance. These due diligence tools reflect the legal requirements and the industry’s need for flexibility to adjust their corporate standards and procedures based on the particular specifications of their product, the country of origin and the complexity of their supply chain.”
IWPA will continue to add new course dates and locations for 2017 and 2018. Organizations interested in collaboration or hosting a training course near them should contact IWPA at info@iwpawood.org.
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