On October 20th in Shanghai, COFI and other Canada Wood China partners will be celebrating the launch of a new builder/developer oriented program called the Service Centre which is to be administered out of the Canada Wood Shanghai office.

The Service Centre concept bundles a number of initiatives such as tech transfer materials (i.e. Guide to Good Practice and Inspection Manual), construction training, regular newsletters and seminars as well emphasizing quality-minded construction practices in this comprehensive program for wood builders, designers, and developers in China. It is hoped that this Canada Wood Group sponsored Service Centre will eventually transform into some form of wood builder association.

The launch and first technical exchange seminar is on October 20, 2004 in Shanghai. All member representatives are invited. Member company representatives wishing to attend please contact:

Jennifer Yu
Project Coordinator – Canada Wood Shanghai
Email: jenyu_cn@yahoo.com
Phone: 011-86-21-3228-3350 / Fax: 011-86-21-6236-2536

This newly created position, located in the Canada Wood office in Shanghai, will enhance Canada Wood’s presence in the fastest growing economy in Asia.

In a partnership with B.C. Forestry Innovation Investment (FII) and the Federal Canada Wood Export Program (CWEP) Canadian forest product Associations under the structure of Canada Wood Group Ltd. are carrying out long term market access and market development programs in China that will significantly increase Canada’s position in the China market.

John brings valuable skill sets to the position with a background in international business development and trade that will complement the strengths of staff in Canada Wood offices in Beijing and Shanghai. John’s role is to coordinate and optimize activities in China.

A continually expressed refrain of suppliers here in Canada, quality-conscious builders and building regulators in China, is the potential for shoddy construction to damage the long-term prospects for WFC in China.

Until January 1, 2004 there was no building code in place specific to light WFC. Since that date a code has existed to guide designers and builders in the use of the system. However, enforcement systems and mechanisms are not sufficiently developed to adequately enforce the code and ensure the use of quality certified materials. This issue is a major shortcoming increasingly recognized by the local governments, particularly in Shanghai. The Shanghai Municipal Construction Commission has approached Canada Wood and FII to determine if a cooperative project can be initiated to examine the issues and make recommendations on the establishment of an inspection and quality system for wood construction. Canada Wood and FII have agreed to collaborate with the Shanghai government in this regard and we will be commencing work on this project this fall.

As part of this QA initiative, Canada Wood will be publishing an inspection manual for WFC. This manual, a companion document to the Guide to Good Practice will be of great use to builders and building inspectors in elevating and creating more consistent levels of quality.

From September 6 – 18, 2004, Paul Newman (COFI) led a mission of Canadian fire experts to South Korea and China. The objectives of the mission were to investigate the fire code challenges standing in the way of expanded use of wood in construction and to initiate and develop connections with key officials and researchers in these countries.

In South Korea, where the government has recently announced its intention to make positive changes to the fire code, the mission group heard that significant regulatory changes will be enacted in January 2005. These code revisions will permit use of WFC in multi-family, multi-storey structures. An important element is the increase in height for wood buildings from 13 m to 18 m at the roof peak. This means four storey structures will be permitted. A number of important issues remain to be clarified including the government requirement to certify or license builders to use the new fire rated assemblies to build multi-family structures. Also policies relating to hybrid construction, where wood is combined with concrete, have yet to be determined. Canada Wood Group will be following this issue closely in the coming months.

In China, the mission group was hosted by the Fire Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security responsible for fire codes and fire code enforcement. A sensitive issue at the moment relates to the fact that GBJ-16, the fire code, is presently more restrictive than the newly promulgated GB50005 wood design code. This inconsistency is leading to problems with local building and fire code enforcement. The primary objective of the mission group was to encourage the harmonization of the two codes and to bring information that would support relaxing of the GBJ-16 regulations.

The mission consisted of representatives from Forintek Canada, the Canadian Wood Council, the National Research Council and COFI/Canada Wood. Excellent progress was made in engaging with officials in both countries. We are optimistic that it will be possible to obtain relaxation of the respective fire codes over time, provided strategic and credible ties are developed with the research communities.

This fall, COFI/Canada Wood will be undertaking an assessment of skill gaps and training shortfalls presently restraining the growth of WFC in South Korea. South Korea, apparently on the cusp of a significant expansion in WFC has severe limitations in trained designers, site managers and building trades. Canada Wood is hoping once critical gaps have been identified that we may be able to provide practical training support to enable the fledgling Korean industry to transition up to the next level in the application of wood construction. This mission, led by Wayne Iversen, will depart on November 20th for Seoul.

Mr. C.S. Lee has been appointed as part-time representative for the Canada Wood Group based in South Korea. Mr. Lee’s role will be to provide guidance and in-market support to Canada Wood as market research, code, and training assessment activities are rolled out in this market.

We would like to welcome Mr. Lee to the Canada Wood Group and believe he will make a strong contribution to our efforts.

CFIA met with Korean regulators on September 21, 2004 in Korea to discuss Korean import requirements of Canadian Pine/Larch shipments. A short summary of the key points of the meeting are outlined below:

• NPQS requested that all exports, with the exception of manufactured homes, contain a bundle tag. CFIA agreed that this could be accomplished.
• NPQS requested removing the option for fumigating non-compliant shipments if certification errors occurred or primary quarantine pests were detected.
• NPQS felt that agreement to the use of heat treatment certificates in lieu of phytosanitary certificates should be reserved until NPQS reviews the Canadian system. Agreement to host an NPQS delegation was tentatively suggested for October 2004 pending Canadian discussions with industry.

In summary, the Korean regulators have agreed to extend the interim rule to November 30, 2004 and have agreed to a further extension, if required, to allow for trade to continue while a long term solution is being worked out. Under the interim rule, all Pine/Larch shipments must be certified with either a heat treatment or phytosanitary certificate issued by the CFIA or an associated service provider. The use of fumigation for non compliant shipments is not an option at this point.

Three NPQS officials will be visiting Canada shortly (October or November 2004) to review the role and responsibilities of the CFIA, its service providers and industry. NPQS is considering the acceptance of a mill certification system administered by the grading agencies (with CFIA oversight) and this issue is the primary purpose of the NPQS mission.

Over two thousand attendees participated in 10 seminars held across Japan to promote and detail the new fire-proof approvals secured by COFI/Canada Wood and the Japan 2x4 Association. The suite of six separate approvals permit, for the first time, WFC to be built in highly restricted ‘fire proof’ zones in urban centres. Specific opportunities include urban re-builds where old style wood frame homes had previously to be replaced with non-combustible building methods. This was because the fire regulations had progressively tightened to the point where WFC was no longer an option. In addition, it will be possible to utilize wood construction in multi-storey institutional structures such as senior homes, day care facilities and schools. It is reported that at least 19 projects are in advance planning utilizing fire proof approvals. We hope to see further projects announced and will be following this very positive development in the coming months.

Canada Wood Japan Director David Litchfield reports that Japanese housing starts for August 2004 are 10.5% up over the previous year at 102,070 units. Wooden starts are up by 13.9%, accounting for a 48.9% market share of total starts. 2X4 starts jumped 21.4% in August and have increased 11.3% for the first eight months of this calendar year. Post and beam units showed strength as well up 13.3 %.

Taiwan’s Executive Yuan, the government body responsible for formulating and executing national policies announced last month that effective December 1, 2004 all lumber shipments (both green & KD/HT) will need to be certified with a phytosanitary certificate. Non compliant lumber shipments will be returned to port of origin or subject to fumigation (and detained for a minimum 2 week period) at the expense of the shipper. We are endeavoring to get further information through our office and the Canadian Trade Office in Taiwan and will provide further details ASAP.