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MA LA YSIA’S PRO PO SA L
REVISIO N O F EN 636, THE EURO PEA N STANDARD FO R PLYWO O D – IM PLIC A TIO N TO THE PLYW O O D INDUSTRY IN A SEA N
1. BAC KG RO UND
The Euro p e a n C o mmite e fo r Sta nd a rd isa tio n C EN is lo o king into the re visio n o f
EN 636:2003 ‘Plywo o d- Spe c ific a tio ns’
. This Sta nd a rd c o ve rs a ll fo rms o f p lywo o d inc lud ing utility a nd struc tura l p lywo o d . Up to no w, the sta nd a rd d o e s no t inc lud e
a ny sp e c ific a tio ns o n the b io lo g ic a l d ura b ility o f the timb e rs use d in the c o nstruc tio n o f the p lywo o d . Ho we ve r, und e r the p ro p o se d re visio n, a n a d d itio na l Ap p e nd ix,
whic h d e a ls with the b io lo g ic a l d ura b ility o f the timb e r use d ha ve b e e n p ro p o se d . The a rg ume nt is tha t ASEAN, p a rtic ula rly Ma la ysia n p lywo o d a re no rma lly ma d e fro m
a mixture o f sp e c ie s a nd tha t ve ry little kno wn a b o ut the d ura b ility o f the se sp e c ie s use d , a nd the re fo re , the c a utio us a p p ro a c h wo uld b e to lump a ll Ma la ysia n p lywo o d
in C la ss 5. The p rinc ip le use d se e ms to b e tha t the d ura b ility o f untre a te d p lywo o d will b e g o ve rne d b y the le a st d ura b le sp e c ie s.
The d ra ft ha s c la ssifie d
Me ra nti
o r Sho re a sp p . kno wn a s La ua n in the Philip p ine s
into Dura b ility C la ss 5,
whic h is the
lo we st c la ss
a va ila b le . A ma jo rity o f the p lywo o d ma nufa c ture d in Ma la ysia fa ll into the utility p lywo o d .
Pe rha p s it is the sa me c a se in Ind o ne sia . In its p ro d uc tio n, the p lywo o d is ma d e fro m a mixture o f sp e c ie s, the q ua lifying c rite ria b e ing
pe e la b ility
a nd
g lue a b ility,
a nd
no c o nside ra tio n
b e ing ma d e fo r ne ithe r
dura b ility no r stre ng th
. In o the r wo rd s, the d ura b ility a nd stre ng th o f Me ra nti p lywo o d c a nno t b e g ua ra nte e d , a s the y a re no t
c o nsiste nt, va rying d e p e nd ing o n the sp e c ie s use d . This situa tio n is q uite a c c e p ta b le a s the utility p lywo o d is no rma lly use d fo r no n-struc tura l p urp o se s, whe re stre ng th is
no t re q uire d a nd the d ura b ility o f the timb e rs use d d o e s no t ma tte r. The mo re imp o rta nt fa c to r is the p e rfo rma nc e o f the g lue line s, a nd this is ta ke n c a re
o f b y the c ho ic e o f a p p ro p ria te g lue s, suc h a s ure a -fo rma ld e hyd e g lue s UF, me la mine -fo rma ld e hyd e g lue s, p he no l-fo rma ld e hyd e g lue s PF, a nd re so rc ino l
g lue s.
2. IMPLIC ATIO NS TO THE PLYWO O D INDUSTRY
The imp lic a tio ns to the p lywo o d ind ustry a re se rio us, whe re Ma la ysia n a nd ASEAN p lywo o d in g e ne ra l will b e jud g e d b y the ir b io lo g ic a l d ura b ility. This me a ns tha t
unle ss me mb e r c o untrie s c o me fo rwa rd to p ro vid e re lia b le a nd trustwo rthy d a ta o n
AG ENDA ITEM 6
REVIEW O N THE EXISTING INTERNATIO NAL AND REG IO NAL STANDARDS, TEC HNIC AL REG ULATIO NS AND C O NFO RMITY ASSESSMENT PRO C EDURES FO R
THE WO O D BASED PRO DUC TS
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the d ura b ility o f the sp e c ie s use d in the ma nufa c ture o f p lywo o d , ASEAN p lywo o d will fo re ve r b e c la ssifie d in the lo we st c la ss. This in turn will a ffe c t the ma rke ta b ility o f
p lywo o d fro m ASEAN, vis-à -vis p lywo o d fro m c o untrie s tha t c a n p ro vid e suc h info rma tio n. The c urre nt p ra c tic e o f mixing a ny p e e la b le sp e c ie s in the ma king o f
p lywo o d ma y ha ve to b e re vie we d . We c a n c o unte r this b y re stric ting the sp e c ie s use d o nly to the a p p ro ve d sp e c ie s, whe re the p ro p e rtie s a re we ll kno wn to the
b uye rs.
3. REC O MMENDATIO NS FO R AC TIO N
Re se a rc h a nd stud ie s o n d ura b ility o f ha rd wo o d timb e rs, p a rtic ula rly Me ra nti, ha ve b e e n c a rrie d o ut. Fo r insta nc e , the Build ing Re se a rc h Esta b lishme nt BRE La b o ra to ry
Re p o rt p re se nte d d a ta o n the na tura l d ura b ility o f va rio us timb e r sp e c ie s d e rive d fro m g ro und c o nta c t sta ke te sts e sta b lishe d a t two BRE fie ld site s. It wa s re p o rte d tha t
Me ra nti is c a te g o rise d und e r C la ss 2, ie ‘ Dura b le ’ . Ple a se re fe r to
Anne x I.
In lig ht o f the ne w d e ve lo p me nt, whe re the ma rke t is no w lo o king c ritic a lly into the b io lo g ic a l d ura b ility o f the sp e c ie s g o ing into the ma king o f p lywo o d , the re is a ne e d
fo r ASEAN to p o sitio n itse lf to e ffe c tive ly d e live r this info rma tio n.
In this re sp e c t, Ma la ysia wish to p ro p o se tha t the o p p o rtunitie s a va ile d thro ug h the Pro d uc t Wo rking G ro up b e ta ke n a d va nta g e o f to d isc uss a nd ta ke c o mmo n
p o sitio n o n c urre nt sta nd a rd s b e ing d e ve lo p e d in ISO a nd o r EN, in p a rtic ula r tho se sta nd a rd s whic h a re like ly to ha ve imp lic a tio ns o n tra d e fo r ASEAN me mb e r
c o untrie s.
4. AC TIO NS UNDERTA KEN BY MALAYSIA
