Short answer
For covered wood products entering the United States, the importer files a plant declaration (PPQ Form 505 or its electronic equivalent through ACE) stating the scientific name of each species, the country of harvest, the quantity and the value. The Act's underlying prohibition is broader than the declaration: importing wood harvested in violation of foreign law is itself an offence, regardless of paperwork. Enforcement turns on due care — what a reasonable importer in your position would have checked. That makes your supplier's ability to name species and origin per shipment a commercial requirement, not a nice-to-have.
What has to be on the declaration?
Scientific name — genus and species — for every plant material in the product, the country from which the plant was harvested, the quantity and measure, and the value. For a plywood panel that means each wood component, which is why 'hardwood' is not an acceptable entry and why a mill that cannot tell you whether the core is Acacia mangium or Eucalyptus urophylla has left you to guess on a federal form.
Where a product contains material from multiple countries, each has to be listed. Composite panels are the hard case in exactly the same way they are the hard case for EUDR — and for the same reason: several wood inputs, several origins, one product.
What does 'due care' look like in practice?
It is a standard measured against what someone in your trade would reasonably do, so it rises with the risk of the origin and with your own sophistication. In practice: knowing your mill and its raw-material sources, holding species and origin documentation per shipment, checking that the species declared matches what the product actually contains, and escalating when a price looks impossible for the species named.
That last point deserves weight. A quotation far below the cost of the declared species is information, not a bargain. Species substitution is one of the most common findings in wood-product testing, and it converts a purchasing decision into a legal exposure.
How does this differ from EUDR?
Lacey asks whether the harvest was legal. EUDR asks whether the land was deforested after 31 December 2020 and requires geolocation to prove it. Legal harvest on land cleared in 2022 satisfies Lacey and fails EUDR. Wood from a forest untouched since 1990 but harvested without a permit fails Lacey and satisfies the deforestation test. If you ship to both markets you need both answers, from the same supplier, per shipment.
Questions buyers ask about this
Is plywood a covered product for the declaration?+
Coverage is phased by tariff heading and has expanded over time, so check the current enforcement schedule for your HS code with your customs broker before each new product line. Where a product is covered, the declaration is required at entry; where it is not yet covered, the underlying prohibition on illegally harvested wood still applies.
What documentation should I ask my Vietnamese supplier for?+
Species by scientific name for every wood component, country and province of harvest, harvest permits or the smallholder legal basis, transport documents required under Vietnamese forestry law, and a signed declaration tying those to the invoice and container. If they can produce this for EUDR they can produce it for Lacey — it is largely the same underlying record.
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LELOI EXIM GLOBAL CO., LTD · Tax ID 2802935153