NEW TREATMENT FORMS REQUIRED FOR WOOD-PACKED U.S. EXPORTS TO CHINA

   The U.S. Department of Agriculture has created special forms for U.S. exporters to comply with China’s new rules for heat-treating wood-packed shipments.
   China announced the new rules on Nov. 1. According to China’s Ministry of Agriculture, U.S. coniferous solid-wood packing has been found to carry pinewood nematode, a pest associated with pine wilt disease.
   The new, one-page Certificate of Heat Treatment will be required for all China-bound shipments with coniferous wood packing from the United States. The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) must certify that the material has been heat treated, for 30 minutes at a temperature of 133 degrees Fahrenheit.
   Exporters must submit a completed original and one copy of the heat
treatment certificate to the nearest USDA office of the shipment’s origin
for endorsement. The USDA advises that exporters do not wait to have their forms endorsed at the final U.S. port of departure.
   Sealed shipments transiting "in bond" through the United States to
overseas destinations should not be affected by the rules. But mixed loads would have to be properly certified. Shipments that transit Hong Kong on route to China must also be certified, the USDA said.
   China warns that failure to comply with the rules could result in
shipments being returned, separation of shipments from packing material at importer’s expense, or destruction of both shipments and packing material if separation or return is not possible.
   The USDA states on its new forms that signing off on false statements
could result in a fine of up to $10,000, five years in prison, or both.
Exporters must retain the certificates for official review for up to a year
after the date of issuance.
   The final draft of the Certificate of Heat Treatment form will be
available this week on the APHIS web site at
https://www.aphis.usda.gov/oa/chinaswp/hotbutton .