The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) asked Congress to amend the Lacey Act that holds unknowing purchasers responsible for buying illegal wood products from overseas. Under current law the U.S. government can seize any imported wood product—cabinet knobs, wood trim, lumber—made from plant material sold in violation of foreign law without recourse or reimbursement. MHProNews.com has learned the buyer can be held personally liable and exposed to civil and criminal liability. NAHB Chairman Barry Rutenberg says, “The sheer number of different sources of wood that could be included in the finished home makes it nearly impossible for a builder or remodeler to know with certainty where and under what circumstances the individual components were sourced.”

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