Growing volumes of imported timber are entering New Zealand with inaccurate performance claims, dodgy certification and false or misleading labelling, creating what the country’s peak wood processing body says is a growing risk for the building and construction industry.
“We are receiving ongoing concerns from members about imported timber products entering New Zealand with dubious certification — creating risks for building safety, consumer protection, environmental integrity and fair competition for domestic processors,” according to Mark Ross, CEO of the Wood Processors and Manufacturers Association, who flagged the issue in his monthly newsletter to members.
“And with no border enforcement in New Zealand by regulators and the 2025 Building Act changes set to ease the use of overseas wooden building products, the risk of non‑compliant timber entering the New Zealand domestic building and construction market is increasing.”
Now, Ross is calling for stronger verification systems, border enforcement checks on imported timber, clearer regulatory responsibilities and improved industry collaboration, with the WPMA prepared to take the issue directly to political parties — armed with case studies — in the lead‑up to the national election later this year. ·
The Government has announced a major shakeup to New Zealand’s construction rules and building material standards, aiming to lower the cost of building new homes. How will it be easier to get overseas products into New Zealand? We talked to the construction industry to hear their concerns.
His calls come on the back of an Australian study which found that 63 per cent of imported timber carrying private certifications was incorrectly labelled. That report — published by Australia’s Department of Agriculture under the Freedom of Information Act and analysed by Source Certain — also found that half of all sampled products could not accurately verify the provenance of the wood, while all Australian‑grown timber was correctly labelled.
Closer to home, those concerns have also been sharpened by the Luxon government’s Building (Overseas Building Products, Standards, and Certification Schemes) Amendment Act 2025, which created three new pathways to make it easier to use overseas building products in New Zealand. At the time, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk said the legislation would make up to 250,000 products available to New Zealanders, with building consent authorities now required to accept overseas‑certified products as complying with the Building Code.
But with timber framing still dominant in New Zealand construction — and conditions including high UV, seismic activity and coastal exposure that differ sharply from those in many exporting countries — industry feedback points to recurring issues with products that don’t stack up to the claims on the paperwork. Penk has acknowledged the need for caution, telling Parliament that his government is focused on “ensuring only top‑quality materials enter the market” and that regulations would include “targeted consultation with industry leaders and local government.”
- To learn more about certification fraud in global timber supply chains, click here for Wood Central’s special feature.
