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Wood not labelled properly in Switzerland

logs
Where did the wood come from? Swiss consumers have the right to know. Keystone

Five out of six Swiss companies selling wood or wooden products fail to declare the type and origin of the wood correctly – despite a legal requirement that has been in place since 2012. 

As the Federal Consumer Affairs BureauExternal link announced on Tuesday, it conducted 120 inspections last year and found that only 17% of the audited companies had declared their products correctly.

+ The strong Swiss franc has hurt the local timber industry

About a third of the wood and wooden products featured partially correct declaration labels. 

Yet over 40% of the companies hadn’t managed to label any of the inspected products properly. According to the Federal Consumer Affairs Bureau, most of these were small companies that had never been audited and were unaware of their obligation to declare the wood’s origin. 

The companies found wanting have been given a deadline by which they need to update their labels.

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