Solid Wood Packing Material From China

We are amending the regulations for importing logs, lumber, and other unmanufactured wood articles by adding treatment and documentation requirements for solid wood packing material imported from China. This change means that wooden pallets, crating, dunnage, and other wooden packing material imported into the United States from China will have to be heat treated, fumigated, or treated with preservatives prior to departure from China. This action will affect anyone who uses solid wood packing material in connection with exporting commodities from China to the United States. This action is necessary to control the risk that solid wood packing material from China could introduce dangerous plant pests, including forest pests, into the United States, a risk demonstrated by many recent incidents where exotic pests were detected in solid wood packing material from China.