OIGPM, VDM and HDH summit meeting in Germany

On 28 January 2020, during the Partner Days – furniture trade fair for the furniture industry – in Bad Salzuflen, a meeting was held between the President of OIGPM, Jan Szynaka, and the management of German associations connected with furniture and wood industry in general. It was a summit meeting of organisations representing furniture manufacturers and the furniture industry from Poland and Germany. These two countries and Italy are the largest producers and exporters of furniture in Europe. The Polish furniture industry in particular has developed excellently in recent years and furniture manufacturers from Poland are important players not only in Europe but also worldwide.

The activities and strengths of OIGPM under the leadership of Jan Szynaka have found recognition and respect in German organisations related to the furniture industry. This has been reflected in recent years through joint action for free trade in furniture in Europe (joint action to prevent the French government from introducing protectionist measures /formaldehyde was the alleged reason/).

German partners – including the Association of the German Furniture Industry (VDM) as well as the Federation of the Nenets Wood Industry (HDH) – were impressed by the efficiency of Jan Szynaka, OIGMP President. This included meetings held and measures taken directly at ministerial level in 2017, the intervention of the Polish Government through the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs directly with the European Commission.

This is the third summit meeting of the leaders of OIGPM and VDM and HDH (the previous ones took place in February 2017, February 2018 and January 2020) . Delegations led by Jan Szynaka and Jan Kurth met in the Trade Fair Centre in Bad Salzuflen during the Partner Tage trade fair event. Some of the most important topics included:

• Presentation of information about the two industry organisations (in Germany there were significant changes in 2019); the issue of mutual information exchange and communication platform (the German side proposes OIGPM to join EFIC)
• VDV information on the actions of the German Antitrust Authority related to large mergers on the German market of large sales chains (for example Lutz and Roller). According to the information from our partners, the case will still go through the European Commission and the relevant EU antitrust authority.
• Issues related to the global furniture market; Chinese market (trade war with the US and the issue of coronavirus risks /slowdown/)
• Relations and interaction between Polish and German industry and trade in the furniture sector. Emphasising the need to develop and benefit together rather than perceiving each other as a rival.
• Mutual satisfaction was expressed with the interaction and a decision was made to engage in joint activities in the near future. The idea is to introduce formaldehyde standards from the German market (as of 1.1.2020) as an EU standard – thus creating a level playing field (for non-EU suppliers).

Group photo, from the left: Andrzej Pazurkiewicz (OIGPM Advisor), Dr Olaf Plümer (DCC; Daten Competence Center), Tomasz Wiktorski (OIGPM Expert, owner of B+R Studio), Jan Szynaka (OIGPM President), Jan Kurth (VDM; Head of both the Association of the German Furniture Industry and the Federation of the German Wood Industry), Jan Kurth (VdDW; Association of the German Home Furniture Industry).