With some surprise and hard-to-conceal admiration, we have been informed that Fantoni, global leader in the panel industry, is guiding a group of big industry players against Germany’s decision to do as they want in the area of formaldehyde emissions. We will not add anything, as our industry knows well that some actions always have a “strong reason”, so we let you read the press release, from which we have taken a few abstracts. However, we want to stress the determination of companies that have not hesitated to get in the ring!
“A new chapter has been added to the battle to contrast Germany’s unilateral decision to introduce its own limits to formaldehyde emissions in wooden panels. The Fantoni company, also representing six other companies in the wood industry (Italians Frati, Saib, Saviola, Arper and Panguaneta, as well as Belgian Unilin), initiated proceedings against the German Republic at the court of Cologne.
The decision was made with the support of Federlegno, following preliminary analysis by the Brussels law office of DWF, and the arguments in its support are of a purely technical nature. The change in limits introduced by Germany disrupts the uniformity of formaldehyde measurement and classification methods, thus breaching the CE mark regulations for wood-based products. Furthermore, the German standard came into force on 1st January 2020 without any prior notification to the European authorities. Finally, it hampers the free movement of goods within the European Single Market.
“We are not against any new standards for formaldehyde emission limits in principle – emphasized Paolo Fantoni, who is also President of the European Panel Federation (EPF) – but we do oppose a free-for-all in which individual countries make unilateral and asymmetrical decisions”.
