In recent years, one of the biggest challenges that directly impacts on our industry and particularly on our customers has been various restrictions placed on Canadian exporters by most nations concerning the heat treatment of wood packing materials used for their shipments.

This issue has arisen due to phytosanitary officials recognizing a potential danger to our global forests, through the distribution of non-treated packaging materials.

Around the world, there is deep, justifiable concern about infestation from pests such as Pine Wood Nematode, Longhorn Asian Beetle and others that breach established national phytosanitary requirements in different countries. To date, the European Union, Australia, Brazil, China, New Zealand and Russia have all enforced rigid and strict guidelines that must be met in order for goods to be allowed entry, and the list of concerned nations is growing.

They now demand that all packing materials used be certified to meet international regulations, and the subject is non-negotiable. It is quite reasonable to expect all of our trading nations to adopt and enforce similar guidelines in the immediate future.

To meet the established quality requirements, packing materials must be certified as meeting the ISPM 15 international standard. This means that wood materials used in production of packaging have been heat treated to a core temperature of 56 degrees Celsius for a minimum of 30 minutes. This process ensures that most infestation is neutralized before being used in production.

All Butler & Baird production wood materials for export adhere to this global standard and are certified accordingly.

Due to our depth and experience, our company proudly represents the North American industry as a whole in ongoing international negotiations that set standards for such matters, led by the International Plant Protection Convention Working Group.