The wood sector consists of two subsectors; Manufacture of wood and wood products and furniture manufacture, Rwanda's wood sector is predominant in the latter, where as the former is not yet developed and most of products are imported from abroad. Wooden furniture industries make a substantial contribution to development of a developing countries, it can produce important economic growth. As wood-processing industries such as the wooden furniture sector develop, they create employment which in turn expands the tax base in the country, they generate a trained workforce, and contribute to the development of physical and institutional infrastructure.

Manufacturing furniture can thrive on low-level technologies, which is the current case for Rwanda; Rapid development of our wood and furniture industry would only take place if we had more adequate production conditions, particularly the availability of wood raw materials and skilled labour. However, it is possible to emulate the success of the leading Asian exporters in other countries, provided these have the preconditions for furniture manufacturing, by establishing necessary factor endowments and key policies for the sector, but more importantly setting standards that will guide manufacturers and help build a consistent, resilient and sustainable industry. 

Beyond the two initial phases (import substitution and export-oriented growth, furniture industries' development strategies will have to focus on sustained growth, greater values addition, and product diversification through continuous innovation, flexible manufacturing systems, networking and skilled designs. If they not do this, furniture producers will tend to enter a race to the bottom. 

Rwanda Standards Board has instituted a new Standards Technical Committee (TC) on furniture, timber and engineered woods RSB/TC 054. Previously, standards related to the wood sector have been developed under TC 009, which is for Civil Engineering and Building materials. 

The objective was to prioritize the needs of the wood and furniture sector to align with the Made in Rwanda promotion government policy, a separate TC means only technical experts in the sector will participate in standardization, it is anticipated that this will boost interest and promote fair consensus in setting standards that will benefit the needs of the industry. 

RSB/TC 054 will be responsible for developing standards to ensure that wood and furniture (whether imported or made in Rwanda) available on the market is safe to use and is of solid and strong construction. Also to address Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) issues with respect to the risks that standards may become a constraint to market access or put tropical producers at a disadvantage when the requirements are particularly difficult to meet. 

Manufacturers normally apply standards voluntarily in their product development, process control and marketing. Having a common language for test methods, dimensions, safety and strength characteristics is considered a major benefit of wood and furniture standards.

Standards developed will aid in procurement of wood and furniture assets, promote entrepreneurship for the emerging businesses, aid importers minimize losses caused due to ambiguity in purchasing, it will also facilitate in boosting in the investment of testing laboratories for the wood and furniture industry