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BREAKING NEWS...
From the 1st January 2021, it will be a legal requirement for all wood packaging material moving in both directions between
UK and the EU to be compliant with a treatment and mark as specified in the International Standard for Phytosanitary measures No 15 (ISPM15). More to follow...
Introduction
The risks of introducing and spreading tree pests through the transport
of packaging material made of unprocessed wood is recognised
internationally. Certain pests, including wood boring longhorn beetles
from the family Cerambycidae, bark beetles from the family Scolytidae,
and the pine wood nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, are readily
transported and spread via infested wood packaging material.
In 2002, an International Standard for a Phytosanitary Measure,
Guidelines for regulating wood packaging material in international trade
(ISPM15), was adopted by the Interim Commission on Phytosanitary
Measures (now the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures). Most of the
UK’s international trading partners around the globe have now
implemented landing regulations for wood packaging material based on
ISPM15.
In order to help UK manufacturers and exporters demonstrate compliance
with ISPM15, the Forestry Commission in Great Britain and the Forest
Service, an agency within the Department of Agriculture and Rural
Development in Northern Ireland, established a national wood packaging
material marking programme in conjunction with the trade.
The United
Kingdom wood packaging material marking programme (UKWPMMP) regulates
the manufacture, repair and re-manufacture of ISPM15 compliant WPM in
the UK and is administered by the Timber Packaging and Pallet
Confederation
(TIMCON).
The Programme was given statutory status on 6 November 2006, when the
Plant Health (Wood Packaging Material Marking) Forestry Order 2006 came
into force. Operation of the UKWPMMP is overseen by an Advisory Council
consisting of representatives from the
Forestry Commission,
Forest
Service,
Timber Packaging and Pallet Confederation
(TIMCON),
National Association of Pallet Distributors
(NAPD),
United Kingdom Forest Products Association
(UKFPA),
CHEP
(Commonwealth Handling Equipment Pool) and the
British European Pallet Association Ltd
(BREPAL).
By law all companies in the UK involved in producing
ISPM15 compliant wood packaging material must be authorised to do so by a
valid certificate.
Exporters are advised to find out about import requirements by liaising
with the relevant phytosanitary authorities in importing countries. Details
of most National Plant Protection Organisations (NPPOs) worldwide can be
found on the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) website
www.ippc.int
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Exporters Guide
Last Update: 2nd April 2013 Please find the last counties that were updated
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