DTI develops nationalstandards for engineered bamboo products

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) through its Bureau of Product Standards (BPS) is in the process of developing a National Standards for engineered bamboo products to make these products more competitive.

The standard will also cover school furniture made out of engineered bamboo like arm chairs, tables and desks.

Engineered bamboo products refer to wood substitute products made of processed bamboo slats.

Engineered bamboo is one of the priority projects of the government that is intended to alleviate poverty on the pilot areas by generating jobs through entrepreneurship. The project is piloted in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) and Region 3.

In its implementation, the project adopts the scheme of public-private partnership. DTI is the lead implementing government agency of the engineered bamboo project. Other key public stakeholders of the project are the Department of Education (DepEd), The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).

Key stakeholders from the private sectors are the micro-entrepreneurs who operate semi-processing plants for bamboo slats and owners of furniture manufacturing shops which assembled the semi-processed bamboo slats into engineered bamboo.

The project adopts the industry clustering strategy using value chain as a tool for industry development where institutional market like DepEd is tapped. Desks made of engineered bamboo are used to replace the dilapidated desks of public elementary schools in the pilots areas.

BPS invited technical experts from the Forest Products Research and Development Institute (FPRDI) and the Cottage Industry Technology Center (CITC) in order to ensure the development of a relevant and realistic Philippine National Standards for bamboo products.

Data from the DOST showed that the use of engineered bamboo in the furniture and handicraft industry is on an upward trend. Engineered bamboo products include laminated and glued bamboo pieces. With the Filipinos’ creativity, these are transformed into high-value furniture and handicraft items that provide good economic revenues for the country.

Foreign trade statistics from 2000-2005 showed that bamboo furniture generated $19.3 million or $3.2 million per year in export revenues, while the handicraft industry, which uses bamboo and rattan materials, generated $566 million per year. Available data show an estimated demand of 3.5 million poles for furniture and 575,000 poles for handicraft in 2010. The supply deficit is about two million poles for furniture and 340,000 poles for handicraft. In terms of source, the country has 39,000-53,000 hectares of bamboo stands with a potential average production of 36 million culms worth P2.88 billion per year.

However, the total production area is still inadequate, not to mention the fact that the existing natural stands have low productivity, thus, it is still unable to support the furniture and handicraft industry.