Group Sues U.S. Agencies, Lumber Importers Over Mahogany

June 5, 2006  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in on June 2006 The National Resources Defense Council, a U.S.-based conservation group, along with two Peruvian groups, filed a suit yesterday with the U.S. Court of International Trade charging three federal agencies with allowing the importation of contraband Peruvian mahogany into the country.

The suit names the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Interior , the Department of Agriculture, as well as three U.S. lumber importers: Bozovich Timber Products of Evergreen, Ala.; T. Baird International Corp. of King of Prussia, Pa.; and TBM Hardwoods of Hanover, Pa.

The plaintiffs say most Peruvian mahogany is logged illegally, and that more than 80 percent of the contraband timber ends up in the United States.

“Millions of dollars worth of Peruvian mahogany enters U.S. ports every year in violation of U.S. and international law,” said Ari Hershowitz, NRC’s Latin America BioGems project director. “While U.S. border control agencies look the other way, the rainforest and the communities that depend on them to survive are being plundered.”

The lawsuit charges that importing the mahogany violates the U.S. Endangered Species Act and a major international treaty, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna. It calls for the federal agencies to stop all illegally traded Peruvian mahogany from entering the United States, and for importers to forfeit illegally imported Peruvian mahogany already in the country.