Creation of an international phytosanitary standard for wood packaging materials was continuing to create “confusion” and “teething problems”, according to Roddie Burgess, head of plant health for the Forestry Commission. However, he told the 57th Congress of the European Federation of Wooden Pallet and Packaging Manufacturers (FEFPEB): “It will no doubt be refined in time. But what we have in place now is far better than having nothing at all.”
Mr Burgess, who assisted the secretariat of the International Plant Protection Convention in preparing the International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures known as ISPM 15, began his speech in Edinburgh by underlining that ISPMs are not law but recommended guidelines for governments when framing their own national requirements. According to these guidelines, wood packaging materials should be subjected to an approved treatment and then stamped with the ISPM 15 mark which would indicate where the material was made, the authorised producer, treatment route and ‘debug’ symbol.
Heat treatment and fumigation by methyl bromide are currently the only two treatment methods to have received approval, although Mr Burgess noted that other methods such as chemical pressure impregnation (CPI) and irradiation were measures pending approval. Indeed, Mr Burgess indicated that CPI might prove to be more effective than either heat treatment or fumigation. Available data confirmed that CPI could offer long-term phytosanitary protection but, he said, more evidence was required that this method killed bugs already present in the wood.
EU implementation of ISPM 15 was planned for July 2004, after which point Mr Burgess believed China would replace emergency measures against wood packaging materials from the EU with regulations based on the new international standard. Canada and the US had notified their intention to implement ISPM 15 on January 2 next year, while Korea and New Zealand were the only other nations to have made formal notifications through the World Trade Organisation channel, he said.
“Worryingly,” added Mr Burgess, “some of the notifications have had some twists which, if not ironed out, may still leave confusion.” Korea, for example, will accept only heat treatment for wood packaging materials coming from Canada, China, Japan, Mexico, Portugal, Taiwan and the US.
Re-treatment confusion
Mr Burgess attempted to clear up confusion surrounding repaired wood packaging materials, particularly with regard to re-treatment and re-certification. Having explained that the standard did not demand the whole unit to be re-treated when recycled, re-manufactured or repaired, he added: “It is acceptable for treated components to be used in the process so long as the person doing the work ensures that the original unit was treated – that is, it carries a proper ISPM 15 treatment mark. At the same time, he should carry out a visual examination to ensure that there are no signs of infestation before obliterating the original mark and replacing it with his own.”
Mr Burgess also said that certain issues remained to be resolved, for example, the means of dealing with a unit that had originally been fumigated but was being repaired with a heat treated component. “That is a teething problem I am feeding into the review process,” he told delegates.
Gordon Hughes, executive general manager of the Canadian Wooden Pallet and Container Association, claimed that the introduction of this international standard offered the wood packaging industry its best opportunity “in many years” to regain credibility and make a fair return on investment. The new mark represented “a selling point” which wood packaging organisations should ask their respective governments to promote through a direct mailing to consuming industries.
Decline in grants
Focusing on UK matters, Forestry & Timber Association chairman Robert Scott emphasised that – “rather depressingly” – Forestry Commission grants to the private sector had been declining at the time of an “unprecedented collapse in timber prices”, with the result that investment in the sector was “at risk”. He therefore called for measures aimed at generating a positive cash flow for sustainable forest management, such as a modest increase in VAT on fossil fuels and a zero rate for renewable options such as wood fuel. He also called for climate change levy relief to be extended to the sawmilling sector.
Offering a UK sawmilling perspective, joint managing director of Dalbeattie-based Howie Forest Products Hamish Macleod pointed out that EU accession would increase the legislative burden on countries such as Estonia and Latvia, adding that this would help to restrict sources of cheap timber and increase raw material costs for the pallet and packaging sector.
