Cross border truckers take heed: The Dept. of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), in cooperation with the Dept. of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection (CBP), is now enforcing the final phase of its new wood packaging material (WPM) regulations, crafted to prevent the importation of timber pests into the U.S.
All WPM entering or transiting through the U.S. must now 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,” commonly referred to as the “ISPM 15” rules, said APHIS.
The agency added that all WPM must also be marked with an approved international logo, certifying it has been appropriately treated – with both APHIS and the CBP requiring the immediate re-exportation of any unmarked WPM if it’s not in compliance with either the ISPM 15 treatment or marking standard. All costs associated with re-exportation are the responsibility of the importer or party of interest, said APHIS officials.
APHIS and CBP both added that they’d require the immediate re-exportation of any marked WPM 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).
