Tropical Forests: PD 318/04 Rev. 2 (I)

PD 318/04 Rev. 2 (I)

Quality control and standardization of Ghanaian wood products

Ghana

The project will develop and promote the application of quality control guidelines and standards for the Ghanaian timber and wood products. It will therefore enhance the capacity of the timber industry to go more into downstream processing of timber since standardization will increase the export potential for many wood products. Although Ghana made significant progress in the development and adaptation of quality control measures and grading rules to ensure that its wood products meet international standards for export, there are no quality control guidelines, grading rules or standards for the majority of wood products. In addition the local market needs have been ignored in most quality control guidelines and grading rules. At present it is only for export production that quality control rule and standards are strictly applied. The current quality control and grading schemes are saddled with flaws and cannot be considered as being holistic, multipurpose and competitive enough to meet demands. With regard to the local domestic market the application of standards is very little stringent, except in the cases of Government projects in which some premium is put on quality.

Issues of standards and quality determination for wood for the local market have been treated with neglect, slowing the growth of the local market, since the effort is more towards developing exports. Furthermore the capacity to monitor the application of the grading rules by the local market is lacking. Information and statistics on usability and acceptability of rules remain non-existent. Although the quality of Ghanaian timber is well acclaimed on the world market, the same cannot be said for the local market. For a long time this market has been denied quality wood products meant for export. As a consequence the Ghanaian timber industry remains “high volume low value business”. There is therefore the need to address this problem, in an effort to contribute to achieving the objective of “low volume high value business”, by addressing the national capacity needs, investigating local market requirements of wood and adopting appropriate policies.

The project proposes to develop and promote effective and user-friendly standards and grading schemes for the timber industry to ensure efficient grading, management, utilization and marketing of wood products. It will also support capacity building efforts on Quality Control by the Ministry of Lands and Forestry.

Implementing agency		Forestry Research Institute of Ghana in cooperation with Forestry Commission Ghana Timber Millers Organisation Furniture and Woodworkers Assoc. of Ghana
Budget		Total: USD 212'218.- Swiss contribution: USD 172'424
Planned duration		3 years
Starting date		August 2005
Status		completed
Topics		Wood processing
Contact		jgasana(a)intercooperation.ch
Progress report December 2010 According to the Completion Report, outputs have been achieved as follows: Review of policy and legislation for standardization of wood products. Output achieved. The review was used to produce the standards. Standards for wood products developed. Output achieved. The following standards were produced: GS 980 Furniture - Specifications for Tables. The Standard specifies requirements relating to materials, sizes, construction, workmanship, finishing and tests for tables (writing table, dining table, center/occasional table, and coffee/side table). GS 981 Furniture - Specifications for Seating. The Standard specifies requirements relating to materials, sizes, construction, workmanship, finishing and tests for seating (writing/dining chair, and living room chair). GS 982 Furniture - Specifications for Bedsteads. The Standard specifies requirements relating to materials, sizes, construction, workmanship, finishing and tests for bedsteads (single bed, medium bed, double bed, queen size bed, king size bed, and bunk bed). GS 983 Furniture - Specifications for Furniture components. The Standard establishes the general rules for the classification and grading of furniture components. This Standard further spells out the requirements for machined wood products intended for general application in furniture and similar products. The Standard is applicable to tropical timber manufactured through processes of machining and sold as furniture components or items which have been identified with specific end use under various descriptions. GS 984 Semi-Furniture- Specifications for Planed Timber and Moulding. The Standard establishes the general rules for the classification and grading of machined wood products. This Standard further spells out the requirements for machined wood products intended for general application in furniture, joinery and similar products. The machined wood products specifically addressed by this Standard are timber with one or more sides planed (S1S, S2S and S4S) and mouldings (parquet, flooring, decking, skirting boards, triangular battens, profile boards, sauna lath and dowels). This project addressed exigent national problems and would benefit all citizens. Unlike other standards which target a niche market such as industry and export, these standards satisfy most domestic needs and widely acclaimed in the interim and it is expected to be sustained. The standards are under control of the Ghana Standards Board with its own protocol for maintenance and continuously informing society of new standards through marketing and promotional programmes. The Completion, Technical and Financial Audit Reports for the project have been submitted to the ITTO and the project is completed as of December 2010. Novembre 2009 During the reporting period, the project major activities were executed. Reports of scheduled completed activities have been compiled and reviewed by the Project Management Team. The project has produced five standards, namely: GS 980 Furniture - Specification for Tables, GS 981 Furniture - Specification for Seating, GS 982 Furniture - Specification for Bedsteads, GS 983 Furniture - Specification for Furniture components, and GS 984 Semi-Manufactures of Timber - Specification for Planed Timber and Moulding. These standards are strictly according to ISO standards. In the 45th Session of CEM and CFI Committees (November 2009), the Executing Agency was requested to submit the completion report of the project. November 2008 The project implementation has been given approval for six months extension without additional funds and budget modification in order to finalize the remaining activities. The central activity, which is standards development and implementation, has been awarded to the state mandated standards organization (GSB) and has been funded to complete the standards including final review, publication and gazetting. All activities under Output 1 (Policy and legislation for standardization of wood products reviewed) have been completed. All activities but one of Output 2 (Market requirements for standards and priority areas for grading rules and standards development identified) have also been completed. Output 3 (Standards for wood products developed) and 4 (Institutional arrangements and governance for standards development strengthened) are integrated and many activities depend on the published and gazetted standard. Another major achievement during the reporting period has been the implementation of the training program recommended from the assessment of institutional needs. This has equipped the stakeholders with capacity to apply a wide range of international, British and American standards to wood products finishing, quality evaluation and machine testing of physical properties of furniture in the FIRA accredited laboratory in Forest Products Research and Development Institute, Los Baños Philippines. A mechanism is also being established to sustain application of these skills in the research institute. November 2007 During the reporting period, all activities under Output 1 (Policy and legislation for standardization of wood products reviewed) were executed and completed. Three activities under Output 2 (Market requirements for standards and priority areas for grading rules and standards development identified) have been initiated and two have been completed. One of the four activities of Output 3 (Standards for wood products developed) has been executed and is being reviewed. Other activities involved testing and publication which will be executed later. The project directorate continues to meet the project team often to steer the smooth and timely implementation of the project.