US Wood packing material declaration
Updated 4th April 2007
You may already be aware that all wood packing material used for crating, casing, pallets, dunnage for your shipments must be stamped by the fumigation company. Plywood does not require heat treatment / fumigation.
Unsworth would like to bring to your attention the latest news from the USA (but not only the USA) regarding Wood Packing Material, see the below article.
The USDA and CBP have now started imposing fines for any cargo imported in the USA and packed in non treated timber, and even re-exporting the cargo / container back to the country of origin. And the fines and /or the financial consequences of returned goods are very severe and amounts to be paid very high.
Obviously such fines, costs of returning the goods and consequential losses will be fully recovered from the forwarder / exporter which did not comply with the WPM regulations and whose shipment triggered the penalties.
The Wood Packing Material Declaration presented to the US authorities must comply with the regulations and be completed accurately.
A copy of the format required which has to be printed on your letterhead paper can be found here. You can see at the bottom one example of stamp accepted by the USA authorities which is most probably similar to the stamp replicated on the treated timber you use.
Please read carefully the below article issued in March in a US magazine;
Date: March 13, 2007
Subject: CBP to Issue Liquidated Damages Claims/Penalties for Wood Packaging Regulations
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a notice stating that effective March 9, 2007, it may issue claims for liquidated damages and/or penalties against importers, carriers or bonded custodians for importing wood packaging material (WPM) in violation of the regulations.
Damages/penalties to be based on value of merchandise plus WPM. CBP states that liquidated damages result from a breach of obligation under bond. When violations occur, liquidated damages and/or penalties will be assessed based on the value of the merchandise, which is considered the value of the WPM plus the value of the commodity or commodities identified or importation on the entry documentation.
According to CBP, a liquidated damages claim may be issued at three times the entered value of the merchandise but no greater than the bond amount.
CBP states that the WPM regulations have been in full enforcement since July 5, 2006 and were implemented in a three-phase approach to ensure that the trade was fully informed. The regulations require all WPM entering or transiting through the U.S. be properly marked to indicate that it has been either heat treated or treated with methyl bromide in accordance with the International Standards for Phytosanitary measures: Guidelines for Regulating Wood Packaging material in International Trade (ISM 15), and be free of timber pests. Immediate exportation is required for any noncompliant WPM. This includes WPM that is unmarked, inappropriately marked, or marked but found infested with a live wood-boring pest of the families Cerambycidae, Buprestidae, Siricidae, Cossidae, Curculionidae, Platypodidae, Sesiidae and Scolytidae. All costs associated with the handling of volatile WPM, including the cost of exportation, are the responsibility of the violator.