LATEST NEWS
On the 1 March the Forestry Commission's Plant Health Service commenced a consultation on proposals to amend the Plant Health (Fees) (Forestry) Regulations 2006. Details of the consultation can be viewed on the FC's Consultations webpage.
The consultation ends on Friday 9th April 2010. (Updated 4 March 2010)
Wood Packaging Material Treated with Methyl Bromide
The Plant Health Service has received a number of queries from forwarding agents and others who are concerned that it will not be possible to import goods on wooden packaging material which has been treated with methyl bromide under ISPM 15 requirements after 18 March ie the date on which the storage and use by any persons of the fumigant gas will cease in the UK in accordance with the Food and Environmental Protection Act 1985 and the Control of Pesticides Regulations 1986 Notice of Revocation Numbers 2360, 2361 and 2362.
Freight forwarders etc have become confused over this issue because of draft EU Regulations on substances that deplete the ozone layer ie Co-Decision (COD): COD/2008/0165) as they think that this draft legislation intends to prohibit the use of wood packaging material treated with methyl bromide.
We are pleased to be able to clarify that it is not the intention of the draft EU regulations to prohibit the continued use of wood packaging material which has been treated with methyl bromide. The intention of the EU regulations is to prohibit the movement of products which contain banned substances (ozone depletents) and which rely on that presence to function eg certain refrigerated appliances.
Wood packaging material does not rely on methyl bromide to function. Any residues dissipate very quickly after fumigation, and indeed the wood packaging material cannot be released from the fumigation chamber until residues are down to prescribed levels (5 ppm), and they very quickly fall to zero after that.
Thus wood packaging material treated with methyl bromide is therefore not caught up in the draft Co-Decision (COD): COD/2008/0165) and may continue to be used and re-used without let or hindrance.
It should be noted, however, that fumigation services in the UK will cease to be able to use methyl bromide within the requirements of the UK Wood Packaging Material Marking Programme (UKWPMMP) with effect from Friday 19th March 2010 and no further fumigation treatments, for ISPM15 compliance purposes, will be permitted within the Programme on or after this date.
UKWPMMP participants that have methyl bromide treated timber material or manufactured articles of wood packaging material in stock after the UK fumigant withdrawal date will, however, be permitted to use up these stocks and mark the products with the treatment code ‘MB’ accordingly. (Updated 1 March 2010)
Australian Quarantine Requirements - Bluestain
UK exporters are advised that the Australian Quarantine requirements prohibit the entry of wood products infected with non-indigenous bluestain. It should be noted that treatment in accordance with ISPM 15 specifications is not lethal to bluestain fungi, and in fact heat treatment in the absence of moisture reduction is likely to increase susceptibility to infection. Our advice, therefore, is to use only wood packaging material which, in addition to having been either heat treated or fumigated to ISPM 15 specifications, has additionally been kiln-dried to below 20% moisture content. This may be indicated by the mark "KD" or "kiln-dried" on the wood packaging unit (including dunnage), but it must not be included within the border of the ISPM 15 mark. As any timber, including kiln dried material, has a tendency to absorb condensation during long voyages in a freight container, kiln drying does not guarantee that bluestain infection will not develop. (Published 12 February 2010)
Phytophthora ramorum in South West England
The Forestry Commission is investigating a recent outbreak of Phytophthora ramorum on Japanese Larch trees in Devon, Cornwall and Somerset. This is the first time that stem lesions caused by P. ramorum have been found on conifer species. Many of the infected trees are not growing in proximity to rhododendron (known to be a host of P. ramorum) which raises the question of how they have become infected. Symptoms have also been found on Western Hemlock and a selection of broadleaf species (beech, birch, and some oaks) growing in the same area.
