Notice to Industry - European Union adopts new phytosanitary import requirements for wood of host species of the Asian long-horned beetle (ALHB)

Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)

On June 10, 2015, the European Union (EU) adopted emergency measures to prevent further introduction and spread of the Asian longhorned beetle (ALHB) within the EU.  

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) will be working with industry to build awareness and compliance with this new measure.

This directive applies to the import of plants and plant products from areas where ALHB is known to occur including Canada and the U.S. The following species are regulated by the E.U.:  

Acer spp., Aesculus spp., Alnus spp., Betula spp., Carpinus spp., Cercidiphyllum spp., Corylus spp., Fagus spp., Fraxinus spp., Koelreuteria spp., Platanus spp., Populus spp., Salix spp., Tilia spp. and Ulmus spp.

To export wood products of these species including logs, lumber and wood chips, a phytosanitary certificate is required. The phytosanitary certificate must confirm that:

• logs, lumber or wood chips originate in a pest free area, or 
• logs, lumber or wood chips are debarked and heat treated to a core temperature of 56 °C for a minimum duration of 30 continuous minutes throughout the entire profile of the wood (including at its core).  In case of heat treatment, the wood or wrapping must be marked or tagged "HT"; or 
• Wood chips are debarked and have been processed into pieces of not more than 2.5 cm thickness and width

Re-export of wood products of the species regulated by the EU and originating from third countries where ALHB is known to occur (excluding the United States) must be based upon the original phytosanitary certificate which accompanied the import at the time of entry to Canada as per policy directive D-02-12 indicating that the import was treated prior to entry.  

For the re-export of wood originating in the U.S, a heat treatment certificate or other verification that treatment has been undertaken, for example, a heat treatment stamp applied to the wood (or bundle wrapper) by a facility authorized by the American Lumber Standards Committee (ALSC) may be acceptable.  For wood originating in a pest free area of the U.S., a phytosanitary certificate, certificate of origin or commercial documents may also be acceptable to allow certification of  re-export shipments.

The new phytosanitary requirements are detailed in the "COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING DECISION (EU) 2015/893, as regards measures to prevent the introduction into and the spread within the Union of Anoplophora glabripennis (Motschulsky)" which may be obtained at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:JOL_2015_146_R_0006.

If you have questions regarding this new measure, please contact the CFIA or visit www.inspection.gc.ca.