Timber remains the most popular material in the world for the storage, transport and movement of goods, with Europe alone producing around 350 million pallets and packing cases annually.
The UK timber packaging industry is a key player in a fast developing international initiative to help safeguard against any spread of pests through wooden packaging.
The programme, based on ISPM 15, “Guidelines for regulating wood packaging material in international trade”, is one of the International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures implemented by the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation. For some time the UK has implemented its own compliance scheme involving the Forestry Commission and the Northern Ireland Forest Services. This scheme is administered by TIMCON (the Timber Packaging and Pallet Confederation) and, to meet compliance, wooden packaging has to either undergo heat treatment – 56OC at the core of the wood, for a minimum of 30 minutes – or, less commonly in the UK, be fumigated using methyl bromide, by an approved source.
When the material is accepted as fully treated, the manufacturer can apply the internationally recognised mark for ISPM 15 compliance. The marked wood packaging should not need re-treatment during its working life, unless it is altered in some way, for example, repaired, remanufactured or recycled.
UK wood market
Tony Traynor, project director at Wood for Good, said his organisation fully recognised the importance of the work being done by TIMCON. “Timber packaging accounts for a significant proportion of the UK wood market [24%] and it is a share that we need to defend against alternative packaging materials. Not just in revenue terms, but in terms of the many environmental benefits of wood packaging as well,” he said.
“The scale and pace of international trade today makes it particularly vital that every country should be able to protect itself from the spread of pests and disease. Over 50 countries have implemented the standard and we are delighted to say that China has now signed up to ISPM 15 compliance as well.”
China’s State Quarantine Inspection Service has published “Official Notice No 2” confirming that, as from January 1 this year, it is now accepting ISPM 15 compliant and marked wood packaging material without a phytosanitary certificate. This means that one of our most significant trading partners has now signed up and exporters no longer need to have their wooden packaging material shipped with a phytosanitary certificate. China, however, continues to encourage exporters to use the “Declaration of use of non-wood packaging material” where appropriate.
Although there are many wood-borne pests, those of particular concern are the pinewood nematode, found in Canada, China, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Taiwan and the US and the Asian longhorn beetle, native to China and now found in Canada, the US, Austria, France and Germany, where eradication is under way. Both pests pose a serious threat to forests and urban woodland.
The Asian longhorn beetle, which can grow up to 4cm in length, was discovered in the US in 1996 where it was found attacking maple and horse chestnut trees in New York City. Over 7,000 trees had to be destroyed. More recently, three Chicago area infestations have also been detected, heightening concern among forest health professionals about the threat posed by this non-native pest. An astounding US$168m has so far been spent on combating the Asian longhorn beetle in the US alone.
Wood reserves
China has been considering all manner of radical changes to its forestry policies to lure both private and foreign investment in its bid to feed economic growth. Its wood reserves account for only 2.9% of the world’s total – far from adequate to meet the demands of a country that contains about 22% of the world’s population.
According to international standards, at least 30% of a country’s land should include forested acreage to achieve a good, stable and sustainable ecological environment, but the ratio in China is only 16.55%. An expected GDP growth rate of 7% per year and an annual net population growth of about 11 million in the next 5-10 years will create a strong and steady increase in the demand for wood, with the result that China faces an even more severe shortage in the decades to come.
Encouraged by the government’s moves and attracted by market demand, domestic and foreign businesses are starting to invest more in the sector, but it seems likely that for some time to come China will continue to depend heavily on imports.
