The U.S. Lacey Act, passed on May 22, 2008, placed a ban on commerce involving illegally sourced plants and products made with these plants. This includes wood from illegally sourced trees from foreign countries or from the U.S. and any products such as laminate or hardwood flooring that uses this wood. This groundbreaking U.S. Lacey Act addresses both illegal logging as well as illegal plant trade, imposing harsh penalties which may include fines, jail time, and forfeiture of vessels and goods for those convicted of these crimes.

In order to enforce the Lacey Act, hardwood flooring importers are now required to declare both the name of the wood species used in construction of their products as well as the country that the wood products were harvested from. This helps significantly to discourage the illegal harvesting of trees from protected areas such as national parks or nature reserves as well as the general theft of plants. Additionally, the Lacey Act helps to ensure that harvesters, importers, and those involved in the commerce of hardwood flooring pay appropriate royalties, fees, and taxes, and also helps enforce other export laws such as log–export bans.

For more information about this ban on illegally sourced wood, view this PDF on the U.S. Lacey Act.