1. Recent detections of pests in wood packaging in Australia
Chris Howard
Policy Officer
Biosecurity Plant Division
Australian Government Department of Agriculture
IFQRG 12, Rome, September 2014

2. Importing Wood Packaging
Australia partially adopted ISPM 15 in 2004 & fully adopted in
Presently, together with ISPM 15, other treatments for wood packaging are still accepted
Fumigation - MeBr, SO2F2, EtO
Heat treatment
Irradiation
Permanent timber preservative treatments
Wood packaging must be free of Biosecurity Risk Material

3. How Australia manages WPM
Broker accreditation schemes (training to departmental requirements)
Documentary assessment at the border
Quarantine approved premises (trained staff at receiving depots)
General Inspection and specific commodity work instructions
Cargo compliance verification (CCV) surveys (target 1-5% of goods that are not usually referred)

4. Recent Post Quarantine Detections
May/June 2014 – Anoplophora glabripennis (Asian longhorn beetle), Apriona germari (brown mulberry longhorn beetle) and Monochamus alternatus (Japanese pine sawyer beetle)
were detected in wood packaging for building supplies.

5. Recent Post Quarantine Detections
May/June 2014 – Anoplophora glabripennis (Asian longhorn beetle), Apriona germari (brown mulberry longhorn beetle) and Monochamus alternatus (Japanese pine sawyer beetle)
were detected in wood packaging for building supplies.

6. Recent Post Quarantine Detections

7. Recent Post Quarantine Detections
What is to blame? ISPM 15 or compliance?
Joint APPPC/NAPPO meeting in China in June focussed on non- compliance and achieving better implementation.
Compliance levels can be increased by imposing an high level of intervention with non-compliant importer’s next consignments - $$$

8. Interceptions
ALB, BMLB and JPS have been intercepted before.

9. Post Treatment Infestation
I don’t think that we know the emergence times from the pallets. The model only considers emergence of an established population, right?
Post Treatment Infestation

10. Summary
Adopting ISPM 15 and other schemes for WPM allows resources at the Australian border to be directed to other areas of greater risk.
Australia has identified the need to target WPM for more commodities that do not normally require intervention i.e. tiles/stone/building products/etc.
Compliance can be improved by pushback to importers.
Detection of post treatment infestation seems to mirror experiences in other countries.
Post treatment infestation is not in scope of ISPM 15, but it continues to be a major challenge.

11. Questions
Is there a way to reduce the amount of post-treatment infestation that is evident globally?
How do other countries manage this risk?
Realistically, what can be done about post treatment infestation?
When is post treatment infestation most likely to occur?
Does WPM become less attractive with age and is it therefore generally less of risk?
New permanent preservative treatments?