U.S. implements global standard for wood-packaging treatment

U.S. implements global standard for wood-packaging treatment    The U.S. Department of Agriculture will require wood-packaging material used in international shipments to comply with a global treatment standard.
   In March 2002, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) Secretariat, of which the United States is a member, adopted a universal standard for solid wood packaging to reduce the movement of pests.
   The IPPC guidelines require imported wood packaging to be either heat treated to a core temperature of 56 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes or fumigated with methyl bromide.
   For either treatment, wood packaging must be visibly marked. The mark, which is approved by the IPPC, identifies the treatment facility, country and producer codes. Plant protection authorities should accept imported wood packaging without additional paperwork.
   Without the treatment marks, plant protection authorities at the first port of arrival could order the immediate re-export of wood packaging or have it treated or destroyed at the importer’s expense.
   The USDA said with the IPPC standard, U.S. shippers will not need to comply with one set of wood packaging requirements for goods exported from the United States and another set of requirements for cargo imported into the United States.
   “Companies engaged in both import and export would have particular difficulties in ensuring that their SWPM (solid-wood packing material) supply chain is sorted and routed to comply with differing requirements for different destinations,” the USDA said.
   For more details, access online: https://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/06jun20041800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2004/04-20763.htm.