Background
Southern Pine Lumber Industry Introduces HT Markings and Certification Procedures
to Meet Global Packaging Rules
The lumber industry stands ready to help its material handling customers
meet international phytosanitary rules and Southern Pine can be a
first-class ticket to compliance.
The European Union now refuses imports of pallets, crates, boxes,
and containers made of softwood lumber from the United States and other
trading partners unless the material is heat treated and free of the
pinewood nematode, a pest that can damage timber resources. This
standard is now global as the United Nation's International
Plant Protection Convention has adopted very similar measures for
all non-manufactured wood packing material (NWPM), both softwoods and
hardwoods.
The American Lumber Standard Committee,
under agreement with the USDA's Animal
and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), now handles U.S. enforcement
of the regulation, giving accredited lumber grading agencies the authority
to audit participating pallet/crate manufacturers and lumber mills to
ensure that wood packaging material destined for overseas meets the
heat treatment standard.
Southern Pine grading agencies
are offering auditing and certification programs to facilities manufacturing
wood packaging for overseas transport. Smart users of lumber for material
handling applications know that heat-treated (HT), kiln-dried (KD) Southern
Pine can be their passport to the global marketplace. Core temperatures
required to properly dry Southern Pine far exceed the minimum requirements
set under the new rules. Find Southern
Pine lumber suppliers here. The lumber industry wants its customers
to be assured that wood will still work for their material handling
needs, and that:
- Changing packaging material at great expense is not necessary.
- Wood is the best choice. It is economical, durable, easy to fabricate
and customize.
- Wood is good for the environment. It is renewable, recyclable,
biodegradable, and uses less energy to manufacture.
When supplying their customers in the material handling industry,
manufacturers of kiln-dried Southern Pine lumber products typically
certify that the material meets international heat treatment and phytosanitary
import requirements. The new policy requires that all softwood solid-sawn
lumber used in packaging material bear the "HT"
mark so that pallets, crates, boxes, and similar components can be identified
and labeled as free of the nematode. Southern Pine mills manufacturing
lumber for use by material handling customers should contact an accredited
inspection agency for information on auditing and “HT”
grade marks.
Additional information on phytosanitary requirements in global trade
is available from the Southern Pine Council™ (SPC). Contact Edmund DeJarnette, Director of International Markets, or Russell
Richardson, Director of Industrial Markets.
Design and specification assistance is also available. The SPC
offers a helpful publication, Southern
Pine Lumber for Material Handling Applications. Pallet manufacturers
can design a Southern Pine pallet using the Pallet
Design System, a Windows-based software tool offered by
the National Wood Pallet and Container Association.
The Pallet Design System provides a high
degree of confidence that material handling needs will be met
for strength, design, and racking. For more information, see
frequently
asked questions.
Contact Southern Pine Council
Help Desk
National Wooden Pallet and Container Association
Find Pallet Design System Software
NWPCA - home page
American Lumber Standard Committee (ALSC)
Wood Packaging Material (WPM) Program
ALSC - home page
Animal and Plant Health Regulatory Agencies
International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC)
USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)
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