COME MARCH 2005, Jamaican exporters will be required to treat all wood packaging material, including pallets and crates, used for shipping both agricultural and non-agricultural commodities to the European Union, the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Treatment will involve fumigation, or the application of heat, and all wood packaging material must be certified as having been processed in this manner, by the Plant Quarantine/Produce Inspection Unit in the Ministry of Agriculture.
INTERNATIONAL STANDARD
This new requirement under the International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPM) 15, is aimed at reducing the risk of introducing and/or spreading pests associated with the use of wood packaging material in international trade.
Fumigation facilities for wood packaging material are available at the ministry's two fumigation centres at the Norman Manley and the Sangster International airports, respectively, while heat treatment is carried out by Wood Cats International, a local manufacturer of pallets, located in Kingston.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the National Plant Protection Agency representatives at the points of entry in the European Union, the United States, Canada and Mexico reserve the right to treat, destroy or return all solid wood packaging materials, which fail to meet these new requirements, at the importers' expense.
Jamaica is preparing to adopt the International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures by July 2005.
