CBP inspection of wood packaging; CBP photo On September 25, the DHS Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced that beginning on November 1, the agency would no longer eschew penalizing importers of non-compliant wood packaging until that importer had accumulated five such interceptions in the course of a year. Beginning November 1, “responsible … Continue reading Penalties for Importers Who Violate Wood Packaging Rules!
You know that the continuing pest risk associated with imports of wood packaging is among my biggest concerns. See, for example, fact sheets here and blogs here and here. A new book about the family Cerambycidae (edited by Wang 2017; reference at end of blog) confirms that longhorned beetles continue to be introduced to … Continue reading Worldwide Study Confirms ISPM#15 is not Protecting Forests – What Do We Do Now About Pests in Wood Packaging?
ALB pupa; Thomas B. Denholm, New Jersey Department of Agriculture; bugwood.org As I have noted in earlier fact sheets and blogs, wood packaging (crates, pallets, etc.) has been a major pathway for introductions of highly damaging wood-boring pests since at least the early 1990s. (See Figure 2a in Aukema et al. 2010; reference given at … Continue reading Wood Packaging – Again! 11 years after ISPM#15, problems persist …
Do we want triple the current number of wood-boring non-native insects to be established in just 35 years? We all know the damage that some of these insects can do (see summary or longer descriptions; for specific insects). Over the past 30 years, at least 58 non-native species of wood- or bark-boring insects have been … Continue reading Wood packaging again ???!!!!!! Yes – problems need to be fixed!!
As noted in my blog of July 15, damaging pests continue to enter the country in wood packaging. The most comprehensive study indicates that tree-killing pests are found in an estimated 13,000 containers entering the country each year – or 35 per day. These pests are present despite requirements adopted 9 or more years ago … Continue reading Wood Packaging – Customs Efforts & Recent Detections
shipping container being unloaded at Long Beach The rising numbers of tree-killing wood-boring insects introduced to the U.S. (see blogs from July 15 and August 3 & fact sheet and sources linked there) are a result of ballooning of trade volumes and use of wood packaging. This irruption of trade was made possible by adoption … Continue reading Wood-borers in Wood Packaging: How Did We Get to This Crisis?
Revise Decade-Old Policies that Do Not Prevent Introductions Despite regulations adopted 9 or more years ago, tree-killing insects continue to enter the U.S. in wood packaging. Aggressive enforcement is needed now to prevent further huge ecological and economic losses. Disasters already introduced via this pathway As Americans import more stuff, the risk rises that larvae … Continue reading Government Should Act Now! to Shut Wood Packaging Pathway
U.S. phytosanitary policy is set by politicians – the Secretary of Agriculture, trade officials, and members of the House and Senate. Elected or appointed state officials determine how aggressively trees are protected in their jurisdictions. To fix the problems, those politicians need to hear from those of us who know about the pest risk associated … Continue reading Correcting Problems that Allow Woodborers to Enter – What We Can Do
A British scientist has proposed a new way to conduct early pest detection surveillance that she thinks will better serve resource managers: prioritize ecosystems which would suffer the greatest alteration if a non-native plant pest decimated one or more plant species. She says scientists should focus on foundational species and maintaining habitat resilience. Dr. Ruth … Continue reading Proposed new surveillance approach: focus on the receiving ecosystem
Import Volumes in 2023 U.S. imports in 2023 fell about 13% from 2022 levels, returning to approximate pre-pandemic 2019 levels (Mongelluzzo 2024). The 2023 total was 24.2 million TEUs, (a united equal to twenty-foot container) compared to nearly 28 million TEUs in the previous two years (JoC.com February 2024). Imports from Asia in 2023 totalled … Continue reading Container numbers, origins, routes & destinations change — as do pest risks