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The Minister said “following significant engagement over the higher standards for production and imports of a wide range
past month, the first in-person round of negotiations towards of products such items. The recent mandatory QCO for wood
a comprehensive India-New Zealand free trade agreement products is one of the latest.
will take place”. QCOs, notified by government departments in consultation

The New Zealand Timber Industry Federation (NZTIF) has with the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), are compulsory
signalled its support for the proposed NZ-India Free Trade in nature unlike the numerous other standards prescribed
Agreement saying “the Federation is excited by the possibilities by the BIS.
that exist for New Zealand Radiata sawnwood in India”. Though the government has said QCOs have been imposed
The NZTIF has identified that, at present, sawnwood exports to ensure the quality of products, protection of human, animal
to India from New Zealand are negligible, totalling just NZ$10 and plant health, and prevention of deceptive practices, the
million over the last five years. Sawn softwood imports into domestic industry speaks of the burden the measures entail.
India from other countries shows a different picture. The QCO for wood panels applies to both domestic
The NZTIF notes India is one of the largest importers of production and imports and has been identified as likely to

timber globally with a significant demand for various types of increase production costs. India’s overseas trade partners
wood products and imports from various countries including view the recent QCO as a trade barrier.
Malaysia, Germany as well as from teak producing countries. QCOs are covered under the Technical Barriers to Trade
The woodworking industry in India is one of the fastest- (TBT) agreement at the WTO which aims to ensure that technical
growing sectors, with a growing demand for wood and wood regulations, standards and conformity assessment procedures
products. are non-discriminatory and do not create unnecessary obstacles
In a statement the NZFIF says “we consider it important to trade. The TBT Agreement strongly encourages members

that, to best capture the maximum value from NZ, a real to base their measures on international standards to create
emphasis needs to be placed on the qualities of NZ Radiata a predictable trading environment.
including it’s treatability, ease of working and importantly
sustainability of NZ resource. It is vital that Radiata is marketed Training, capacity building and worker certification in
as a timber that “covers all bases” from high end finishing to construction and real estate sectors
construction and packaging. The Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of
India (CREDAI) recently signed a MoU with the National Skill
Imports of panels - almost zero Development Corporation (NSDC) and the Quality Council
The correspondent writes “the market is slow but stable.

Imports of panel products such as plywood, MDF, particleboard
and decorative panels have almost stopped as exporters www.pickpik.com
have not yet been assessed as meeting the recent Quality
Control Order (OCO) with only a few mills in Nepal and one
in Thailand and one company in Malaysia have secured
a licence. Several 100 applications are still pending from
overseas manufacturer-suppliers and there is a lot of distress

among importers”.
Over the past decade the Central government has mandated