CARB has just posted to its site the Enforcement Sell-Through Advisory for Composite Wood Products. It is meant to clarify any ambiguity on how long you can buy and sell non-complying product. It separates the compliance requirements into the guidelines for the board itself and then for the finished goods. The entire document can be downloaded here and...
provides visual tables that show the sell-through dates. Additionally, CARB has stated the following clarifications:
Fabricators: (A “fabricator” is any person, such as a cabinet or furniture maker, who uses composite wood products to make a finished good.)
Finished goods: Fabricators may sell, supply, or offer for sale finished goods made before the applicable effective date for up to eighteen months after that date. Fabricators may also use noncomplying composite wood, such as material that was on-site in storage or acquired during a sell-through period from a manufacturer, distributor, or importer, to make new finished goods and then sell, supply, or offer for sale those finished goods within the eighteen month sell-through period. Such finished goods do not need to comply with labeling requirements specified in the ATCM, unless these products comply with the emission standards in the ATCM.
Note: A fabricator may not purchase for use in finished goods any noncomplying composite wood product manufactured before an applicable effective date, unless it is purchased from a manufacturer or importer during their three month sell-through period for noncomplying composite wood, or from a distributor during their five month sell-through period for noncomplying composite wood products. As explained previously, these latter sell-through provisions apply only to composite wood manufactured before the applicable effective dates. It is not legal for a fabricator to purchase noncomplying composite wood products manufactured after an applicable effective date; there is no sell-through period for such products.
Retailers:
Composite wood products: Retailers may sell, supply, or offer for sale noncomplying composite wood products for up to twelve months after the applicable effective date of the emission standard.
Finished goods: Retailers may sell, supply, or offer for sale finished goods containing noncomplying composite wood for up to eighteen months after the applicable effective date of the emission standard.
Therefore, Furniture Fabricators have 3-5 additional months to buy composite wood and the remainder of the 18-month period to build and sell the finished goods with that non-complying wood. Furniture Retailers have the entire 18-month period to buy and sell the finished goods made with non-complying wood. It seems that if CARB is not requiring any special labeling as mentioned in the document, then they may have no plans to audit retailers until after the sell-through period is over. Just to be safe though, I would be sure to have your fabricators make the fabrication date more apparent on the boxes for your own inventory clarifications prior to the sell-through date ending. The CARB counting continues!
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