From March 9, US Customs and Border Protection have been able to claim for liquidated damages and/or penalties from importers not meeting the requirements of the regulations.
Non-compliance can occur if wood packaging materials are infested with a pest, are not properly marked or are left unmarked, and damages and penalties claimed by the US will be worked out according to the value of the merchandise being imported.
According to the Timber Packaging and Pallet Confederation (TIMCON) to claim that this could lead to some firms inadvertently facing large penalties.
“Our members are highly responsible and while it is unlikely that anyone would knowingly fall foul of the US authorities there are one or two pitfalls,” said TIMCON president John Dye. “For example, an offence would occur where someone who repairs and retreats a pallet applies his own mark but forgets to remove the original mark.”
