see also: in November 2008:   Thanksgiving Day Marijuana Seizure Yields 450 Pounds at Douglas Port of Entry   Registered Sex Offender Intercepted by CBP at Pacific Highway Entry   CBP Officers Seize 145 Pounds of Ecstasy at Vermont Entry   CBP Officers in Boston Seize Undeclared $19,300   CBP Advises Travelers of Temporary Construction at Otay Mesa Border Crossing   CBP Officers in Niagara Falls Arrest Man Wanted in California   Customs and Border Protection Officers in New York Arrest Imposter ...more on cbp.gov:   CBP News Releases   Press Officers

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Washington - Customs and Border Protection inspects loads of firewood coming from Canada into the United States to prevent the entry of unwanted guests—the six-legged kind.

But the U.S. is finding that inspection is not enough. On January 1, noncommercial shipments of hardwood firewood must be accompanied by either a treatment certificate issued by the treatment facility or an attached treatment label. Without this proof of treatment, travelers will be turned back to Canada to dispose of their hardwood firewood.

Due to the increase in pest interceptions, on October 17 the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service issued a federal order, effective immediately, to safeguard and ensure that hardwood firewood entering the U.S. from Canada has been heat treated at 71.1º Celsius (minimal core temperature) for 75 minutes in accordance with Title 7, Code of Federal Regulations, 319.40-7(c).

CBP is currently enforcing the APHIS order by continuing to carefully inspect shipments of firewood and informing travelers of the new U.S. regulatory requirement. If CBP finds signs of pest infestation, travelers will be turned back to dispose of the firewood. However, on January 1, CBP will fully enforce the APHIS order for non-commercial shipments and only hardwood firewood that has proof of treatment will be allowed into the U.S.

This regulatory requirement is necessary to protect U.S. forests from certain pests of hardwood that are present in Canada. These hardwood pests include the Asian longhorned beetle, emerald ash borer and gypsy moth. They are a serious threat to hardwood trees and have no known natural predator in the U.S.

If these pests are allowed to become established and to spread, they have the potential of destroying millions of acres of America’s treasured hardwoods, including national forests and backyard trees. Asian longhorned beetle eradication efforts in the areas where the pest has become established has cost the U.S. in excess of $269 million. Without these eradication efforts, the Asian longhorned beetle has the potential to damage such industries as lumber, maple syrup, nursery, and tourism accumulating more than $41 billion in losses according to APHIS.

For additional information regarding the federal order, please contact John T. Jones with APHIS, at (301) 734-8262.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.