Plants > Forestry > Wood Packaging 

Non-Manufactured Wood Packaging
Material and Dunnage

With increases in world trade, non-manufactured wood packaging material and dunnage (WPM) is now recognized as a likely pathway for exotic plant pests to enter North America. From 1999 to 2000, Canadian inspectors prevented 532 live pests from entry into Canada during random WPM inspections. Other importing countries also face similar problems, for example, from 1996 through 1998 the United States intercepted 1,205 live exotic forest pests associated with WPM. Canadian forest and agricultural industries account for more than $85 billion worth of trade annually; exotic pest establishment could significantly impact these plant resources and impede international market access for these Canadian products.

Recent introductions such as Asian Longhorn beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis) to Chicago and New York, European Pine Shoot beetle (Tomicus piniperda) into central Canada and the north eastern United States, and Brown Spruce Longhorn beetle (Tetropium fuscum) into the municipality of Halifax, illustrate that large sums of money are necessary to eradicate these pests when they arrive and how important effective export restrictions are for ensuring adequate protection to uninfested areas. Arrival of these forest pests into North America is believed to have occurred by the international movement of WPM. Plant health inspectors at Canadian port inspection facilities are on the lookout for these and other forest pest invaders and signs of their presence (CFIA Plant Surveillance Unit; July 1999 Report).

In order to protect Canadian forest and agricultural industries, CFIA has enacted regulations for WPM in the form of policy directive D-98-08 (Entry Requirements for WPM Produced in All Areas Other Than the United States). For all other types of forestry products (i.e. logs, lumber, decorative wood, etc.) directive D-02-12 contains the import requirements for these articles from all countries except the United States.

Canadian plant health officials are participating in meetings at the international level to develop international guidelines for the establishment of uniform regulatory controls for WPM aimed at reducing the risk of spreading exotic pests via trade by this high risk pathway. However, other countries and organizations are enacting regulations to control pests associated with WPM and have placed restrictions on Canadian products shipped with WPM to protect their own forests. In order to facilitate Canadian products shipped with WPM entry into foreign markets, CFIA has developed, in consultation with the WPM industries, trade associations, and scientific bodies, a Canadian Wood Packaging Certification Program (CWPCP).