The Furniture Sector in Pakistan: Export performance and ... - TRTA i

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Box 2.6 Exclusive procurement policy of the London Olympics 2012 The United Kingdom Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has published a draft sustainability principles and progress report describing work progress over ODA’s proposed 12 sustainability objectives, which includes the sourcing of environmental and socially responsible materials. In wood-based products, this means exclusive use of FSC-certified products (Forest Stewardship Council, see details later in this report) All contractors involved in construction work for the London 2012 Olympics are expected to show how they meet these objectives. In a statement, the United Kingdom Timber Trade Federation (TTF) fully supported ODA’s sustainability objectives, but voiced concern that the FSC-only approach might be taken with regard to certification. The Mayor of London recently published a supplementary planning guidance highlighting FSC as the preferred standard for sourcing of wood products in all new major developments in the capital. It is feared that with this approach the authorities would not get all the wood needed for the Olympics The timber industry’s Olympics strategy group, which comprises TTF, TRADA, British Woodworking Federation, UK Timber Frame Association, Wood for Good, ConFor and the Forestry Commission, would be lobbying strongly to communicate timber’s sustainability credentials to ODA. The ODA is expected to produce a detailed sustainability strategy next year, which would include more details on its material procurement policy. Source: ITTO MIS, 2006 Commercial and industrial enterprises (their building and construction projects, hotel, office and shop furniture, etc.) are more likely to put emphasis on the aesthetic appeal, safety, quality, functionality and physical construction of furniture than on environmental or social aspects of furniture making. This is natural, as these organisations are more familiar with such day-to-day business needs as avoiding product liability suits and impressing new clients. Retailers in the consumer market (mainly selling household furniture, ready-to-assemble furniture, small occasional furniture, garden furniture, etc.), on the other hand, must be more sensitive to the “softer” values. In order to ease their customers’ concerns, many furniture chains have developed environmental management systems and, to a certain extent, monitor the origin of their products. As for raw materials, some may give preference to products made of certified wood (legal and sustainable, see chapters later in report). It is recommended that a potential new furniture exporter from a developing country should discuss with the potential buyers (wholesalers, importers, retailers, etc.) what their requirements are and deal with them. The more alert – or responsible – companies may be the ones to reap the greatest benefits of being “green”, but that is not to say that the indifferent or just plain irresponsible ones will be forced out of business. They will simply seek less demanding buyers. Voluntary and mandatory standards in the European Union and USA General purpose The objective of standardisation is to ensure that all furniture available in the market is safe to use and is of solid construction. Therefore, standardisation can hardly be considered harmful to foreign suppliers such as those from developing countries. On the contrary, voluntary product standards can enable an efficient exchange of information between the importer and the supplier. Instead of having to deal with non-specific and constantly changing requirements of 28 International Trade Centre
various counterparts, the supplier will have the benefit of working with a stable set of requirements. As the standards are voluntary in nature, they cannot be regarded as deliberate barriers to trade. Manufacturers normally use the standards in their product development and process control, while related statements are publicised in marketing. Having a common language on test methods, dimensions, safety and strength characteristics is considered more important than giving explicit criteria on what the piece of furniture should look or feel like. This is left for the designers to contemplate. International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) At the international level, the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) is responsible for the harmonisation of standards, including those on furniture. ISO is a worldwide federation of national standard bodies from more than 140 countries. Its mission is to promote the development of standardisation and related activities in order to facilitate international trade and cooperation. ISO’s work culminates in international agreements published as international standards. In the furniture sector, ISO has published 24 standards. Comité Européen de Normalisation (CEN) In the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN, see www.cenorm.org), the Technical Committee 207 “Furniture” (CEN/TC207) is in charge of the standardisation of furniture. TC207 has eight working groups that deal with different aspects of Standardisation: • WG1 – Domestic furniture • WG2 – Kitchen and bathroom furniture • SC3 – Office furniture • WG4 – Outdoor furniture • WG5 – Contract and educational furniture • WG6 – Test methods for fire behaviour • WG7 – Surfaces and surface finishes of furniture • AH – Glass in furniture The major aim of TC207 is to have the EN (European Norm, issued by CEN) standards on furniture established at the European level. It was scheduled to finish its work programme by 2004, and after that there would be approximately 90 voluntary EN standards on furniture, their finishes and materials. National quality standards There is no official quality standard for domestic furniture (used in homes) laid down by the European Union law. On the contrary, there are international safety and environmental regulations concerning imported office (institutional) furniture. The high quality of European furniture manufacturing in general serves as a benchmark for foreign suppliers, and that level is certainly not easily achievable for many suppliers from the developing countries. Despite the attempts to harmonise the standards through ISO and CEN, there are still national quality standards insisting on testing and compliance with flame retardancy, etc. For example, these remain in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France and Sweden. International Trade Centre 29
Page 1 and 2: The Furniture Sector in Pakistan
Page 3 and 4: Acknowledgements The report was pre
Page 5 and 6: Abbreviations AFTA AHEC AKTRIN APFE
Page 7 and 8: Table of contents Acknowledgements
Page 9 and 10: Box 3.1 Multilateral discipline of
Page 11 and 12: Executive summary This study sets t
Page 13 and 14: the extent possible maintain or imp
Page 15 and 16: 1 Background and objectives 1.1 EC
Page 17 and 18: 2 Furniture sector in Pakistan 2.1
Page 19 and 20: On the buyer’s side, there are gl
Page 21 and 22: According to the websites of import
Page 23 and 24: Global demand for furniture in main
Page 25 and 26: suppliers, both domestic and other
Page 27 and 28: Table 2.3 Pakistani furniture expor
Page 29 and 30: Figure 2.4 Distribution structure f
Page 31 and 32: freight rates have increased and do
Page 33 and 34: Price The prices of local machinery
Page 35 and 36: Indonesia has also announced a ban
Page 37: industry itself should support effo
Page 41 and 42: Box 2.7 UK Timber Trade Federation
Page 43 and 44: Figure 2.5 Simplified example on ch
Page 45 and 46: At least 70% of the wood used in ma
Page 47 and 48: Scope of joint ventures There exist
Page 49 and 50: • With FAO’s Forest Products an
Page 51 and 52: The contact information of many of
Page 53 and 54: Box 2.10 USAID initiative in the fu
Page 55 and 56: Opportunities Major opportunities m
Page 57 and 58: pressure on the price. There appear
Page 59 and 60: Pakistan does not export this furni
Page 61 and 62: 3.1.3 Functional scope The function
Page 63 and 64: Current status of efforts to libera
Page 65 and 66: 3.2.2 Information flow-upwards, i.e
Page 67 and 68: Commission (EC/EU) has established
Page 69 and 70: Figure 3.3 Relevant intensity of WT
Page 71 and 72: Box 3.2 Regional Trade Agreements (
Page 73 and 74: Trade Related Aspects of Intellectu
Page 75 and 76: Agreement on the application of san
Page 77 and 78: country or materially retards the e
Page 79 and 80: Relevance of the furniture sector T
Page 81 and 82: 3.4.2 Other countries’ access to
Page 83 and 84: Table 3.2 Top 10 buyers of the Paki
Page 85 and 86: Arabian market. Here again, there i
Page 87 and 88: • Material from China is being us
Page 89 and 90:
4.2 Obstacles and shortcomings - im
Page 91 and 92:
Raw material recovery Raw material
Page 93 and 94:
• Consistent policy for supportin
Page 95 and 96:
A short-term but maybe a costly mea
Page 97 and 98:
5 Export services in Pakistan 5.1 E
Page 99 and 100:
5.1.3 Federation of Pakistan Chambe
Page 101 and 102:
• Pakistan International Freight
Page 103 and 104:
The lessons learnt here could be re
Page 105 and 106:
6 Conclusion and recommendations 6.
Page 107 and 108:
6.2 Critical success factors • A
Page 109 and 110:
6.4 Global value chains 6.4.1 Poten
Page 111 and 112:
Benefits All timber tends to be air
Page 113 and 114:
• Optimise cutting; • Calculati
Page 115 and 116:
6.6.5 If we had US$100,000: A techn
Page 117 and 118:
• To modernise such a laboratory,
Page 119 and 120:
Annexes Annex A — Sources of info
Page 121 and 122:
• Federmobili information on the
Page 123 and 124:
• National Home Furnishings Assoc
Page 125 and 126:
International Trade Centre 115
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