see also: in December 2008:   CBP Lists Top 10 Enforcement Events of 2008   CBP Seizes $200K in Undeclared Currency; Arrest 1 at Texas Port   Marfa Sector Agents Apprehend Murder Suspect   San Ysidro Port Modernization Deployment Temporarily Reduces Lanes   Border Patrol Agents Assist in Locating Distressed Individual   CBP Officers Stop Man at Michigan Border Crossing Wanted for Aggravated Sexual Assault   Holiday Surprise; CBP Unwraps 312 Pounds of Khat in December ...more on cbp.gov:   CBP News Releases   Press Officers   Agriculture

contacts for this news release

Seattle - U.S. Customs and Border Protection continually inspects loads of firewood coming from Canada into the United States to prevent the entry of unwanted guests—the six-legged variety.

Despite CBP’s ongoing inspection efforts, the threat of invasive species hitchhiking in wood shipments across the US-Canadian border remains. Effective December 15, for commercial shipments and January 1, 2009 for noncommercial or personal shipments, hardwood firewood must be accompanied by either a treatment certificate or a treatment label certifying that the wood was heat treated to a core temperature of 71.1º Celsius for 75 minutes. The requirement can be found in Title 7, Code of Federal Regulations, 319.40-7(c). Without this proof of treatment, travelers will be turned back to Canada to dispose of their hardwood firewood. Hardwoods generally include: oak, beech, ash, maple, cherry and certain other varieties.

Softwood firewood, such as pine, may enter without treatment but it must be free of pests. It must also have written certification, a requirement which varies according to the type of wood and origin. If inspection at the border reveals plant pests, or if certification is lacking, travelers may have to take the firewood back to Canada.

These measures are necessary to protect U.S. forests from certain pests that are present in Canada. These pests include the Asian longhorned beetle, emerald ash borer and gypsy moth. They are serious threats to our natural resources and they have no known natural predators in the U.S.

If the forest pests that may infest firewood are allowed to become established and to spread in the United States, they have the potential of destroying millions of acres of America’s treasured trees, including national forests and backyard trees. Asian longhorned beetle eradication efforts in the areas where the pest has become established have 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 the United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

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.