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Trade and Industry Department The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
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Commercial Information Circulars

24-hour hotline : 23 922 922

e-mail address : enquiry@tid.gov.hk

Ref : EIC 230/2/13

28 February 2005

Dear Sirs,

Commercial Information Circular No. 65/2005

European Union (EU)* : Revised Entry Requirements of Certain Wood Packaging Material

The European Commission (the Commission) has adopted a Directive to amend the current entry requirements of certain wood packaging material into the EU so as to align with an international standard. Details are set out in Commission Directive 2004/102/EC (the Directive), a copy of which is attached (pdf format) to this circular for reference.

DETAILS

  1. At present, wood packaging material is permitted entry into the Community territories only if it complies with the conditions specifically designed according to the type of wood involved and the origin of the wood. Recently, the EU authorities decided to bring its existing provisions on wood packaging material in line with those of the international standard# (the standard). The Commission therefore adopted the Directive to announce the revised entry requirements of certain wood packaging material.

The revised entry requirements

  1. The revised entry requirements will cover wood packaging material, in the form of packing cases, boxes, crates, drums and similar packings, pallets, box pallets and other load boards, pallet collars, actually in use in the transport of objects of all kinds, except raw wood of 6 mm thickness or less, and processed wood produced by glue, heat and pressure, or a combination thereof, coming from third countries, except Switzerland.
  2. With effect from 1 March 2005, wood packaging material entering into the EU shall:
    1. be made from debarked round wood;
    2. be subject to one of the approved measures (heat treatment or methyl bromide fumigation) as specified in Annex I to the standard;
    3. display a mark with the two-letter ISO country code, a code identifying the producer and the code identifying the approved measure applied to the wood packaging material in the mark as specified in Annex II to the standard. The letters "DB" shall be added to the abbreviation of the approved measure included in the said mark; and
    4. in the case of wood packaging material manufactured, repaired or recycled as of 1 March 2005, the logo as specified in Annex II to the standard should also be displayed. However, this requirement is not applicable on a temporary basis until 31 December 2007 in the case of wood packaging material manufactured, repaired or recycled before 28 February 2005.
  3. In respect of the wood used to wedge or support non-wood cargo, including that which has not kept its natural round surface, except raw wood of 6mm thickness or less and processed wood produced by glue, heat and pressure, or a combination thereof, coming from third countries, except Switzerland, it will have to fulfil the requirements as set out in paragraph 3(a) to (c) above starting from 1 March 2005. Yet, as an alternative, on a temporary basis until 31 December 2007, the wood concerned can be made from bark-free wood that is free from pests and signs of live pests.

Hong Kong's complementary measures

  1. In response to the establishment of the standard, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department has published a fact sheet setting out, among others, the new marking system of wood packaging material in Hong Kong for the purpose of conforming to the standard. The fact sheet contains a list of Hong Kong companies that are approved to conduct the methyl bromide fumigation including their specified marks. For details, please refer to the fact sheet at
    http://www.afcd.gov.hk/english/publications/publications_qua/files/ispm15_20050729_e.pdf

ENQUIRIES

  1. For enquiries about the content of this circular, please contact the undersigned at telephone number 2398 5684.




Yours faithfully,



(Miss Sandra SOU)

for Director-General of Trade and Industry

* The EU includes Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

#The FAO International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures No. 15 on Guidelines for regulating wood packaging material in international trade. Full document of the standard is available at
https://www.ippc.int/servlet/BinaryDownloaderServlet/133703_ISPM15_2002_with_Ann.pdf?filename=1152091663986_ISPM_15_2002_with_Annex1_2006_E.pdf&refID=133703



  • While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the above information, the Department cannot guarantee this to be so and will not be held liable for any reliance placed on the same.

Revised date  : 15.11.2007