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Plant health

LATEST NEWS

Important Information for Timber Importers - New Stringent action for non-compliant ash material
To view details
 
To view the latest (AQIS) statement on Australian requirements for plywood and veneer used as wood packaging material.  (Updated 25 June 2009)
 
 
The EU has recently agreed further changes to the measures in place to prevent the spread of Pine Wood Nematode, a serious pest of many conifers which poses a risk, especially, to the southern Member States.  Emergency measures have been in place in Portugal since the pest was first discovered there in 1997.  Recently, an infested pine was discovered and destroyed in Spain and intensive monitoring continues.  Recent changes to the emergency measures were adopted on 24 April and will come into force on 16 June 2009 following publication in the Official Journal of the EU.  For more information.
(updated 7 May 2009).
 
Important Information for Timber Importers - New import controls to guard against the threat from Emerald Ash Borer
From 1st April 2009 the Forestry Commission will introduce new landing requirements for wood, wood products and bark which are a pathway for the tree pest the Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis).   The FC’s Plant Health inspector’s will commence inspections of the following species of wood, wood products and bark where they originate in Canada, China, Japan, Mongolia, Republic of Korea, Russia, Taiwan and USA –
Ash (Fraxinus L)
Manchurin Walnut (Juglans mandshurica)
David Elm (Ulmus davidiana)
Chinese or lace Bark Elm (Ulmus parvifolia)
Japanese Wing Nut (Pterocarya rhoifolia)
To view further details of the specific landing requirements for wood, wood chips and bark of these species.
An amendment to the Plant Health (Forestry) Order 2005 will  implement these new requirements in accordance with Commission Directive 2009/7/EC (OJ L. 40 p. 12., 11.02.2009).
For more detailed information please also see our Newsletter No. 25 (February 2009)

Lacey Act
 
Here is the latest update issued by the USDA on 3 February about implementation of new requirements concerning declarations by importers of certain commodities.  It should be noted that the onus is on the importer in the USA to make the declaration, although to do so and to avoid delays in customs clearance at the US border, exporters are advised to make sure that the information that the importer needs is made readily available. For further information about the phase in dates for different commodities (updated 25 February 2009)

In Plant Health Newsletter No.24 (September 2008)  we provided information about the spread of Pine Wood Nematode in Portugal and the new requirements for coniferous wood and wood products being exported from Portugal. These have recently been amended by Commission Decision 2008/954/EC dated 15 December 2008 (OJ L. 338 p.64 17.12.08).  The new requirements are summarised below.  All of the other guidance provided in Newsletter No. 24 regarding the notification of imports to the Plant Health Service and the action which might be taken in the case of non-compliance remain unchanged.  Any enquiries relating to these new requirements should be directed to the Forestry Commission's Plant Health Service Tel 0131-314-6414.


Wood packaging material 

Commission Directive 2008/109/EC amending Annex IV to Council Directive 2000/29/EC (the EU Plant Health Directive) was published in the Official Journal of the EU on 29 November 2008.

The Directive, which comes into force on 1 January 2009, replaces the current points 2 and 8 in Annex IV, Part A, Section I of the Plant Health Directive.  These new points will require that in addition to either being heat treated or fumigated and marked with the ISPM 15 mark, wood packaging material, including dunnage, entering the EU from all countries with the exception of Switzerland will, from 1 July 2009, need also to be free from bark, with the exception of any number of individual pieces of bark if they are either less than 3 cm in width (regardless of the length) or, if greater than 3 cm in width, not more than 50 square centimetres in size (approximately the size of a credit card).

This means that the requirement that wood packaging material including dunnage must be debarked, which would otherwise have come into force on 1 January 2009 (Commission Directive 2006/14/EC) has been superseded and no longer applies.

An amendment to the Plant Health (Forestry) Order 2005 is in preparation. (updated 1 December 2008)

    
PLANT HEALTH AND FORESTRY

Nearly 90% of Britain's timber requirement is imported, mainly from Scandinavia, the Baltic States, Canada and Russia. In addition, a vast range of other commodities are imported into the country every day and nearly all of these have wooden packaging material of one form or other associated with them. While some goods are carried on high quality pallets, much of this packaging and the loose wood used to wedge cargoes (or dunnage as it is known), is made up of low quality wood which can often present a high plant health risk.

The importation not only of timber, but also of other goods presents a risk to British forests and woodlands because imported wood may carry tree pests which are not currently present in GB, but which could easily establish populations in our growing forests. These pests have the potential of killing large areas of forest or seriously damaging other woodland and amenity trees. Dutch elm disease is a reminder of how such an introduction can dramatically alter our landscape.  Asian Longhorn Beetle is causing significant damage to New York's and Chicago's trees.  More recently this pest, a native of China, has been found in Austria, France and Germany.  In all cases, wooden packaging is believed to have been the pathway.

The aim of the Plant Health Service is to protect the forests and the timber industry of Great Britain and the rest of the EU. To do this, we draw up and apply rules on both the import and export of forestry material (trees, timber and timber products) and the movement of this material within the EU. The rules which we make are usually based on EC law.  The Plant Health (Forestry) Order 2005 is the statutory instrument which sets out import controls.  See information on all current forestry Plant Health legislation. Statutory Instruments can be viewed on the TSO website by clicking on the link to the right.

In order to prevent the introduction of new plant pests into this country and to control the spread of pests which already exist here, we:

  • inspect shipments of timber, timber products and any goods in wooden packing which arrive in Great Britain from countries outside the EU;
  • maintain a register of GB traders moving timber and timber products within the EU;
  • carry out national surveys of forests to ensure that no new pests have been introduced and to establish the extent of spread of pests already here;

  • place controls on the movement of timber and timber products from infested areas to non-infested areas within the EU.


The Plant Health Service is at the Forestry Commission's office in Edinburgh, where the Head of Plant Health and Operations Manager are based. There are two regional officers who support Plant Health Inspectors over the whole of Great Britain. Their regions are North, (Scotland, North England as far south as the counties of Cheshire, Greater Manchester, North Yorkshire excluding Humber ports and North Wales) and South (all counties of England south of those mentioned and South Wales) . We keep our clients informed of the rules and other significant items of interest by publishing regular Plant Health Newsletters. We aim to publish these at six-monthly intervals. We also publish a range of advisory leaflets and posters, which can be ordered, usually free of charge, from the Plant Health Service at the Forestry Commission Edinburgh Office.