CBP is on the verge of enforcing new standards to protect America’s agriculture in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. New rules concerning wood packing materials go into effect September 16. These rules are more than three years in the making, as in 2002 approximately 90 countries adopted new guidelines for wood packaging material that might harbor dangerous wood-eating insects.

Eviction notice

Beginning September 16, CBP will require for entry all regulated wood packing materials such as pallets, crates and boxes to be heat treated to a minimum wood core temperature of 56 degrees Celsius (132.8 degrees Fahrenheit) for 30 minutes or be fumigated with methyl bromide. After treatment by either of these methods the wood material must be marked with the International Plant Protection Convention logo and appropriate country code designating the location of treatment. This treatment certification mark standardizes the regulations and replaces country-by-country certifications.

These agreements are vital to the welfare of the world’s forests. The United States adopted quarantine measures to stop the spread of the Asian long-horned beetles in wood packing material from China. China in return has requirements for wood packing material from the U.S. that might harbor the pinewood nematode. The European Union adopted regulations to control the spread of the nematode from both the U.S. and China.

Wood is used to help transport 70 percent of cargo shipped around the world. Ports that receive non-agricultural products, like tile, are realizing that their imports also may impact agriculture. Starting September 16, any merchandise arriving in the United States with wood packing that is not properly marked is in violation of the regulation and is subject to being immediately exported.

Some wood packing is exempt from treatment and marking requirements. These exceptions are:

• Manufactured wood materials such as fiber board, plywood, whisky and wine barrels, and veneer;
• Loose wood materials such as excelsior (wood wool), sawdust and wood shavings produced as a result of sawing or shaving wood into small, slender and curved pieces;
• Pieces of wood that are less than 6 millimeters (0.24 inches) in all dimensions;
• Wood packing used by the U.S. Department of Defense to transport non-regulated articles, including commercial shipments pursuant to a Defense contract; and
• Firewood, mesquite wood for cooking, and small, noncommercial packages of unmanufactured wood for personal cooking or personal medicinal purposes coming directly from Mexican border states.

In addition, by bilateral agreement between the U.S. and Canada, wood packing made entirely from Canadian origin wood is exempt from the treatment and marking requirements but will continue to be inspected for actionable pests.

A first for Oakland, Calif.

On May 23, CBP Officer Julie Stoeber was examining a shipping container and found a yellow slug on antique roof tiles from Romania. Officer Stoeber processed the slug and submitted it to the Plant Inspection Station of the USDA the next day.

USDA determined that the slug was “actionable,” meaning that it does not exist here or it can cause severe damage to American agriculture. Consequently, CBP issued an Emergency Action Notification to the broker/consignee to hold the container for fumigation.

This slug, Limacus maculates, has only been intercepted nine times in the United States and is the first for the host and origin—tiles from Romania—for the Port of Oakland. The slug has been intercepted on imported commodities from Ecuador, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom and now Romania. EC