Issue link: http://palletcentral.uberflip.com/i/1141207
To determine risk, APHIS Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) carefully evaluates the pests that can follow a commodity or pathway for their potential to establish a breeding population in the United States and cause harm to agriculture or the natural environment. Those pests that are likely to establish and cause damage are considered high risk. Looking across the various categories of imported commodities (i.e., propagative material, fruits and vegetables, wood packaging material, etc.), the pathway that generally presents the highest risk is propagative material. That's because the pests that can follow this pathway are entering the country on viable host material which may be planted in the natural environment. This significantly increases their potential to establish and cause damage. Wood packaging material (including dunnage) made of raw or unprocessed wood is also a high-risk pathway for introducing and spreading damaging plant pests. That's because wood from living or dead trees may be infested by pests. We believe that both Asian longhorned beetle and emerald ash borer entered the U.S. in the 1990s in infested wood packaging material. Since their arrival, the United States has spent over $1 billion to eradicate or control these pests. How have these rates changed pre/post ISPM 15? International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures 15 (ISPM 15) describes globally accepted measures that may be applied to wood packaging material by all countries to significantly reduce the risk of introducing and spreading most quarantine pests associated with that material. It requires treatment, debarking, and marking of all approved material. The mark must include the approved symbol, country of manufacture, identification number of the manufacturer, and the type of treatment used. To obtain a mark, exporters must register with the National Plant Protection Organization of the manufacturing country. The United States authorizes marking through an industry certification program, which is maintained by Memorandum of Understanding with American Lumber Standard Committee (ALSC). Currently 18 inspection agencies are registered under the ALSC and are authorized to certify and issue marks to manufacturers. Companies must contract with one of the 18 inspection agencies to join the program and receive their facility specific mark. The United States began phased-in enforcement of ISPM 15 in 2005, reaching full enforcement in 2007. According to a 2014 study by Haack, et al., U.S. interceptions of infested wood packaging palletcentral.com PalletCentral • May-June 2019 25 "We have found that one of the most effective ways to make sure commodities and other products do not bring potentially harmful pests into the United States is to address pest threats where they originate. To accomplish this, we collaborate with officials and industries in the exporting country and U.S. importers to decrease the artificial spread of invasive pests." Osama El-Lissy, APHIS Deputy Administrator