Out of the 1,750 wood consignments inspected for dangerous plant pests, none tested ‘positive’: all insects found have been species that occur in Finland.
The inspections, which began in March 2005 following the EU‘s plant health directive, are designed to root out ‘quarantine’ pests like pine wood nematodes.
Although the Russian softwood has passed the inspection tests, pine wood nematodes were found in wooden packaging materials of three consignments shipped from the US.
Paula Lilja, from the Finnish Food Safety Authority Evira, said that co-operation with Customs was important for the inspections to carry on smoothly.
“We inform the Customs about which consignments we need to inspect and they inform us when the consigment reaches the border. They also mark off the consignment with tape,” she said.
