Issue link: http://palletcentral.uberflip.com/i/860755
working group with USDA to identify how to leverage current industry practices to further mitigate pest risk. The partnership is part of NWPCA's ongoing commitment to USDA's mission in preventing the invasion of plant pests in the United States. Wood Wins Wood continues to dominate pallet production with over 90% of the market share for pallets, as noted by Modern Materials Handling in a recent pallet user survey. Wood dominates for many reasons; it is renewable, recyclable, cost-efficient, durable, safe and environmentally sustainable. With global trade estimated at over $400 billion USD, a disruption or halt in trade due to the perceived threat of invasive pests needs to be clearly substantiated. In fact, in another research project supported by The Nature Conservancy and National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS), it was shown how policy implementations like ISPM-15 can have a net positive economic effect, even after accounting for the costs of future potential pest establishment. Through modeling, it was estimated that the ISPM-15 program could have a cumulative benefit of more than $11 billion USD by 2050. 2 Because of the value that SWPM provides to the marketplace and the success of the ISPM-15 program in minimizing the threat of invasive insects, the NWPCA works with an array of partners to advocate for the program, and find ways to continuously improve it. PC 18 PalletCentral • July-August 2017 palletcentral.com ECOLOGY These [ISPM-15] treatments, when properly implemented, have been scientifically proven to achieve 100 percent mor tality of quarantine pests at an extremely high level of reliability. Brad Gething, PhD, is Director of Science & Technology Integration and Patrick Atagi is Vice President of Advocacy & External Affairs at the NWPCA. They may be reached at 703-519-6104 or visit PalletCentral.com. 1. Robert A. Haack , Kerry O. Britton, Eckehard G. Brockerhoff, et al. "Effectiveness of the International Phytosanitary Standard ISPM No. 15 on Reducing Wood Borer Infestation Rates in Wood Packaging Material Entering the United States." May 14, 2014. http://bit.ly/2u5rQQ3 2. Brian Leung, Michael Springborn, James Turner, Eckehard Brockerhoff. "Pathway-Level Risk Analysis: The Net Present Value of an Invasive Species Policy in the US." May 19, 2014. http://bit.ly/2uw2E7A