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::: THE PARQUET TRANSPARENCY CODE for Italy
    FROM THE ASSOCIATIONS of Federica Fiorellini
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A commitment towards “unambiguous” production, highlighting all those product characteristics of interest to the market and final consumers not already covered by statutory labelling requirements. This is the idea behind the project promoted by the Floors Group at EdilegnoArredo.

Fact. On 11 February, in FederlegnoArredo’s elegant Sala Armellini in Milan (Italy), 15 companies belonging to the Floors Group at EdilegnoArredo (part of the FederlegnoArredo association representing the interior decoration sector) presented the press with the results of more than 12 months’ work: the Parquet Transparency Code.

::: THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK
As our readers already know, the European wooden flooring sector is regulated by a series of technical rules setting quality standards for each type of product.
These are further supported by the CE marking directives and various national laws, such as Consumer Codes, which oblige companies to respect specific product requirements and to provide clear, complete and easily understood information for the market and, especially, the final consumer.
Owing to the great amount of confusion in our sector, a few of the companies belonging to the Floors Group decided that it was time to make a further commitment to the market.
Put very briefly, they have come up with the Parquet Transparency Code: a voluntary code of ethics that controls the behaviour of all adhering companies.
The “Code” is the result of roughly 18 months’ work by the Floors Group.
Lorenzo Onofri, president of the Floors Group, already told us a year ago that the question of “transparency” was something that arose spontaneously when talking with a few producers who all felt the need to distance themselves from what was happening on the market at the time.
“Today, more than ever before, there is a real need to provide correct information for the final consumer,” explained Onofri, “lost in a jungle of offers and products, not all of them up to standard. The same can also be said for dealers, as they no longer understand just who does what.”
Hence the creation of the Parquet Transparency Code, whose aim is to create a sort of product identity card that describes a series of characteristics and provides consumers with all the information they require to understand exactly what they are buying.
Companies adhering to this voluntary Parquet Transparency Code undertake to provide all the data and information (technical and otherwise) concerning their product. Of course, these data are then checked by the Technical Control Committee (which may even fine producers if discrepancies are found), headed by the lawyer Filippo Cafiero and made up of third parties and representatives from the adhering companies.

 

::: PROFESSIONALISM AND ATTENTION
During the press conference, Giovanni Basso, president of the Parquet Transparency Code, reminded everyone that adhesion to the Parquet Transparency Code is based on the principle of self-declaration and self-discipline, plus the principle of controlled self-regulation and that of interaction with the market, all this in line with precise and categorical rules of behaviour, again subject to control.
“Companies deciding to adhere to the project,” explained Stefano Berti, president of the Executive Committee, “undertake to guarantee professionalism and attention to the market, by describing all aspects of their products from how they source the raw materials to the final delivery.”
“The Code,” added Filippo Cafiero, “consists of three basic commitments: to the market (standardised presentation of product details); to the clientele (total customer satisfaction); to other operators in the distribution chain (an undertaking to favour those operators who respect the rules).”