Import wooden furniture into the United States, and you or your broker must file a Lacey Act declaration: scientific name of every wood species, country of harvest, quantity, and value. This has applied to the main furniture tariff headings (HTS 9401 and 9403) since 1 December 2024. Import into the EU instead, and the Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) asks for more: a due diligence statement, lodged before the goods reach market, showing the timber is legal under Indonesian law and grown on land not deforested after 31 December 2020, backed by geolocation coordinates for the harvest plots.
Neither regime demands anything a properly certified Indonesian supplier cannot produce. SVLK, Indonesia’s timber-legality system, already generates most of the evidence you need: a species-specific export document (the V-Legal document, or a FLEGT licence for EU shipments), certified mill records, and invoices tracing a container to its source. Your job is to collect that pack and translate it into your filings; what produces it inside Indonesia is covered in our guide to understanding SVLK certification.
What US Importers File Under the Lacey Act
The 2008 Farm Bill amendment created two obligations: it is unlawful to import plant material traded in violation of any foreign law, and importers must file a declaration, normally through CBP’s ACE system or paper PPQ Form 505, giving scientific name, country of harvest, quantity, and value. Use scientific names, not trade names (“Java teak” is not a declaration; Tectona grandis is). Where a component could be several species, list every possible one, or ask the workshop first. Declare country of harvest, not purchase: imported panel substrates may differ from the timber’s origin.
US enforcement applies a “due care” standard: an importer who took reasonable steps to verify legality is treated differently from one who ignored red flags. The 2012 Gibson Guitar settlement over ebony imports, a US$300,000 penalty, turned on continued sourcing after concerns surfaced. SVLK documentation is among the strongest due-care evidence available; keep it on file with the species list and invoice chain. The declaration is one item in a longer entry process, covered in our guide to importing Indonesian furniture to the US.
What the EUDR Requires From EU Buyers
Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 covers wood among seven commodities, and its annex includes furniture. It entered into force 29 June 2023; the timetable has shifted, so confirm current status with your forwarder, but build the data pipeline now. As the EU buyer, you must show the wood is deforestation-free (no deforestation on the plot after 31 December 2020), produced legally, and covered by a due diligence statement lodged in the Commission’s system, resting on geolocation coordinates per plot. Indonesia was classified “standard risk” in the Commission’s 2025 benchmarking, so expect eventual sampling.
Indonesia is the only country issuing FLEGT licences, since 15 November 2016. A valid licence satisfies the legality requirement but not the deforestation-free one, and carries no plot coordinates, so geolocation data is still needed. For long-established Javanese plantation teak predating the 2020 cutoff, this is usually a documentation exercise, not a real risk. Rattan is a palm, not timber, so all-rattan furniture generally falls outside the wood annex, though a rattan-wrapped teak frame is still captured. Reclaimed wood also falls outside the regulation, but proving it is your burden, so insist on a provenance letter naming the source structure; no such carve-out exists on the US side. Wider EU entry steps are in our guide to importing Indonesian furniture to Europe.
The Document Pack to Request Before the Container Closes
Ask your supplier for these six items with every order, not after the vessel sails:
| Document | Satisfies |
|---|---|
| Species list, scientific names | Lacey declaration; EUDR due diligence |
| V-Legal document or FLEGT licence | Lacey due care; EUDR legality |
| Supplier’s SVLK certificate, with validity dates | Due-care evidence, both markets |
| Harvest geolocation data | EUDR due diligence statement |
| Commercial invoice and packing list with HS codes | Entry filing, both markets |
| Reclaimed-wood provenance letter | Lacey origin data; EUDR exemption |
Species Names for Your Paperwork
Woods that dominate Bali and Jepara furniture, with the scientific names your declarations need: teak (Tectona grandis), mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla), mindi or white cedar (Melia azedarach), suar or monkeypod (Albizia saman), acacia (Acacia mangium), and rattan (mostly Calamus, a plant product though not timber). Composite panels are the usual gap: ask about plywood backs and MDF drawer bottoms too.
Five Mistakes That Hold Containers at Port
- Declaring trade names (“Java teak”, “ironwood”) instead of scientific names.
- Declaring a mixed-material piece as one species, ignoring its mahogany frame or rattan wrap.
- Assuming SVLK or FLEGT replaces the Lacey or EUDR filing; they feed it, not replace it.
- Shipping reclaimed teak with no provenance file.
- Starting the paperwork after the vessel sails.
Getting the Pack Assembled With Your Order
Our desk sources through SVLK-certified workshops in Jepara and Bali and treats the compliance pack, species lists, V-Legal documentation, invoices, and geolocation data for EU buyers, as part of order management from day one. We are a sourcing and coordination desk, not a law firm; the final declaration is always filed by you or your broker. Send your product list and destination market on WhatsApp at +62 811-3941-4563 or email bd@juaraholding.com.