Wood Packaging Regulations Now in Effect

July 4, 2006  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Delivery on July 2006 The third and final phase of regulations for wood packaging materials for products entering the United States goes into effect today.

Those materials include pallets, crates, boxes and pieces of wood used to support or brace cargo, and must meet import requirements, and be free of timber pests before entering or transiting through the United States.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) will cooperate with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to enforce the regulations.

Starting today, all wood packaging materials (WPM) entering or transiting through the United States must be either heat-treated or fumigated with methyl bromide as outlined in the International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures: Guidelines for Regulating Wood Packaging Material in International Trade. The materials must also be marked with an approved international logo, certifying they have been appropriately treated.

Any goods with non-compliant, unmarked packaging require immediate re-exportation.

APHIS and CBP also will require the immediate reexportation of any marked WPM that is found to be infested with a live wood-boring pest of the families Cerambycidae (longhorned beetle), Buprestidae (wood-boring beetles), Siricidae (woodwasps), Cossidae (carpenter moth), Curculionidae (weevils), Platypodidae (ambrosia beetles), Sesiidae (clearwing moths) and Scolytidae (bark beetles).

Shipments containing WPM that violate the rules may be allowed entry only if the CBP port director determines that it is feasible to separate the cargo from non-compliant WPM. An arrangement to have the noncompliant WPM exported from the United States is required before the cargo can be released to the consignee. All costs associated with the re-exportation are the responsibility of the importer or party of interest.

The first phase of these regulations, which are based on the International Plant Protection Convention standards for WPM, became effective Sept. 16, 2005. The regulations prescribe globally accepted measures to reduce the risk of forest pest introductions via WPM. The United States is one of many countries that have adopted the international standards.

For any questions or concerns regarding the requirements for WPM, visit the APHIS Web site at www.aphis.usda.gov/ppq/wpm/import.html; or call APHIS at (866) 738-8197. International callers who may not have access to the toll-free number may call (301) 734-5346. For additional information on CBP’s enforcement operation, please visit its WPM Web page: http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/import/commercial_enforcement/wpm/.