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How To Treat Wood for the European Community

The emergency measures adopted by the European Communities require that all coniferous "susceptible wood originating in Canada, Japan, or the United States of American" be treated by one of the following methods:

• Heat treated or kiln dried to a minimum core temperature of 56șC for at least 30 minutes in a closed chamber or kiln that has been officially approved for the purpose,

• Pressure treated (impregnated) with an approved chemical in accordance with an officially recognized technical specification, or

• Fumigated with an approved chemical in accordance with an officially recognized technical specification.

In all cases, the wood must carry a marking allowing inspectors to identify where and by which organization the process was carried out.

Heat Treatment

The United States government has accepted a policy statement and enforcement regulations drawn up by the American Lumber Standard Committee for heat-treating non-manufactured wood packing.  Only softwood (coniferous) lumber requires treatment.  The main points in the program are that:

• The wood must be brought up to a minimum core temperature of at least 56șC for 30 minutes irrespective of moisture content.

• The lumber must be marked as either HT (heat treated), or KD/HT (kiln dried and heat treated).

• Manufacturers (called assemblers) of wood packing (like NWPCA member pallet-makers) must use HT marked wood from participating lumber mills or must heat-treat the product after assembly.

• The manufacturer must apply the approved mark.

• ALSC or its designates will audit wood mills and assemblers who have been enrolled in the heat treatment program through a grading agency.

• There is a series of progressively more stringent enforcement provisions starting with warnings and ending with withdrawal of HT marking services.

APHIS has approved two official marks for heat-treated wood - one for non-manufactured wood packaging (NMWP), using 100% HT lumber and another for NMWP containing both HT coniferous wood and untreated non-coniferous wood.  As of August1, 2001, ALSC had accredited 10 organizations to participate in the HT program.  

Fumigation

All fumigants must be restricted-use pesticides that are registered with the Environmental Protection Agency and applied by commercial pesticide applicators licensed by state governments.  APHIS is advising exporters that:

• Fumigation may be used to meet the EU treatment requirement for coniferous woods.

• It must be done by licensed pesticide applicators using EPA-approved fumigants.

• APHIS recommends methyl bromide, but any fumigant labeled for wood fumigation may be used.

• Treated wood must be labeled with the name and state of the pesticide applicator.

For fumigated NMWP, APHIS has designed a recommended mark that has been officially endorsed by the NWPCA.

Chemical Pressure

There has been very little interest in the option of chemical pressure impregnation (CPI) allowed by the EU decision, probably because of environmental concerns that make CPI on a large scale problematic (for example, the Netherlands has recently prohibited entrance of wood impregnated with copper compounds).  The EU does not require an official mark for CPI wood, but it usually contains quality marks and is dyed.  As with fumigants, CPI chemicals are regulated by the EPA and may only be applied under license from state governments.  APHIS recommends the following for NMWP assembles that use CPI coniferous wood:

• Use wood that is pressure impregnated using a treatment officially approved by the American Wood Preservers Association.

• Mark each unit (pallet, crate, spool, etc.) with a mark indicating the name and location of the assembler.

• Use the marks recommended by the APHIS and endorsed by NWPCA for CPI wood (there's one for 100% and one for mixed).

This information provided by article in August/September 2001 PALLETCENTRAL magazine.

 

Conner Industries, Inc. 3800 Sandshell Drive,  Suite 235, Fort Worth, TX USA 76137 (817) 847-0361 (800) 543-4893 (817) 232-9264 FAX Email us at info@connerindustries.com

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Last revised: May 01, 2006