TP provides superior quality assurance programs and services to the forest products industry. This is accomplished by providing timely, cost effective services, thorough and accurate inspections, and exemplary customer service.
In late May there was some information posted regarding the Canada/U.S. bilateral agreement which read:
"On May 23, 2014 in the Spring 2014 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions, the Department of Agriculture(USDA) through the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), indicated that in July 2014 the Final Rule will be issued that would remove the exemption found in 7 CFR 319 for wood packaging materials from Canada. Thus requiring wood packaging materials from Canada that enter the United States must meet the treatment and marking requirements of the regulations that apply to wood packaging material from all other countries. This action is necessary in order to prevent the dissemination and spread of pests via wood packaging material from Canada."
We received calls from some subscribers concerned that this meant that the full implementation of ISPM 15 between Canada and the U.S. would begin in July. TP spoke with the Director of Forestry Exports at the USDA and he clarified this information by stating that the "dates are just estimates, and they are estimates from many months ago, not new ones. The docket is still under review and clearance. We will do stakeholder outreach when the implementation date is known." In other words, at this point there is still no established date for the bilateral agreement to end. We are staying on top of this issue and as soon as we know of any updates we will pass them along.
(Reminder)
Current Format Required by July 1st
ALSC has informed all agencies that IPPC marks used by the facilities they monitor must be updated to the current format by July 1st of this year. The format (shown above) with the trademark on the outside of the box is the most current format that will be required for every facility to use. Many facilities are already using this format and will be unaffected by this requirement. Your inspector will be discussing this transition with you and will be able to determine if new marks are required at your facility. This requirement will not affect the validity of any previously marked WPM with the older format. Please make sure that your marks are up-to-date with the current format by the end of this month.
