Export document
Lacey Act declaration
The United States requires importers of plants and plant products to file a declaration stating the scientific name, the country where the plant was harvested, the quantity and the value. For Indonesian furniture, wood and rattan it is the single most commonly missed American requirement.
The essentials.
- Species, origin, quantity, value
- The declaration names the genus and species, the country of harvest, the quantity and the value of the plant material in the shipment.1
- The importer files it
- It is filed with the entry, electronically, by the importer or their broker. The Indonesian exporter supplies the information and does not file it.1
- It applies to products, not just timber
- Furniture, flooring, veneer, paper and plant-based goods are all in scope where the tariff line is covered. It is not a rule about logs.1
- Illegally sourced material is the offence
- The underlying law prohibits trade in plants taken in violation of any law, foreign or domestic. The declaration is the disclosure mechanism sitting on top of that.1
Who asks for it.
Only these markets require it. Shipping the same goods anywhere else, the question does not arise.
What it does not cover.
A correct declaration does not legalise bad wood
Declaring accurately is a separate duty from the prohibition on trading illegally harvested plants. Filing the form does not protect an importer whose material was unlawfully taken.
It is not SVLK and it is not EUDR
Indonesia's own legality system produces documents for export. The European deforestation regulation is a different obligation again. The Lacey declaration is American and it asks a different question.
Species has to be real
A supplier who writes a trade name where a scientific name belongs has given you something you cannot file. Get the genus and species in writing at quotation stage.
Questions buyers ask.
Does it apply to a container of rattan chairs?
Where the tariff line is covered, yes, and furniture lines generally are. Buyers expect a timber rule to be about lumber and it reaches finished goods, which is why a first American furniture shipment is where the surprise usually happens.
What do I need from the Indonesian supplier?
The scientific name of every plant species in the product, the country of harvest, and quantities. Ask for it at quotation stage in writing, because a supplier who cannot name the species is a supplier whose entry you cannot file.
Who is liable if the information is wrong?
The importer files the declaration and answers for it. That is why the information has to come in writing from the producer rather than being reconstructed by a broker from a packing list.
Where this comes up.
Indonesian teak furniture
Where it is built, what the trade grade letters actually mean, the mandatory V-Legal document, and why SVLK alone no longer answers the EU.
Indonesian rattan furniture
Indonesia restricts export of raw rattan, so what leaves the country is finished furniture. What that means for a buyer, and how to specify a piece.
Indonesian plywood
A panel is manufactured to the formaldehyde standard of its destination market. Which one applies, plus the legality paperwork every Indonesian panel carries.
Indonesian albasia barecore
A semi-finished panel bought by furniture factories on moisture, joints and glue. What to specify, and why albasia sits inside the EU deforestation rules.
Indonesian wood veneer
Sliced or rotary cut, sold in bundles by species and figure. What decides usable yield, and why the legality documents follow the veneer.
Indonesian mahogany
Indonesian mahogany is real Swietenia macrophylla, grown on Java since Dutch times. The species is CITES-listed, and plantation origin does not remove that.
EUDR and Indonesian goods
What the EU Deforestation Regulation covers, the 30 December 2026 deadline, Indonesia's standard-risk classification, and why an SVLK certificate does not answer it.
Export documents, by category
Four categories, four different sets of paperwork and almost no overlap. Built from the reference pages, so it cannot fall behind what is published.
Sources
- 1Guidance on the Lacey Act declaration. US Customs and Border Protection. Checked 5 August 2026.
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