U.S. Recognized for 2008 Lacey Act Amendment

The United States was selected as a finalist for an international award that recognizes government policies that best contribute to the conservation and sustainable development of forests. In May 2008, the 100-year-old Lacey Act was amended to ban commerce in illegally sourced wood and wood products, including wood flooring.

The World Future Council, an international policy research organization, will announce three award winners of this year's Future Policy Award at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Sept. 21. Bhutan, The Gambia, Nepal, Rwanda, and Switzerland are also finalists for the award.

The World Future Council nominated the Lacey Act amendment because the U.S. is the first country to place an "outright, criminally enforceable ban" on importing illegally logged timber. The act addresses illegal logging both nationally and internationally from the demand side by requiring that handlers and importers exercise due care to ensure the product is from legal origins.

The U.S. State Department writes, "Illegal logging and the international trade in illegal timber has been recognized as a major global problem causing environmental damage, costing producer countries billions of dollars in lost revenue, promoting corruption, undermining the rule of law and good governance, and contributing to the funding of armed conflict."