8 May 2015

Six containers of solid timber door cores have been successfully exported to Australia as part of a trial of a new chemical free trade pathway. Normally, wood and wood products exported to Australia during summer have to be treated with methyl bromide to kill any burnt pine longhorn beetles present in the shipment.

The trial shipments occurred under a programme agreed between MPI and Australia last year. Following the success of these shipments timber exporters will now have a non-chemical pathway to Australia from the start of the 2014/2015 summer flight season.

The initiative has been developed by the Ministry for Primary Industries in consultation with industry via the Forest Product Export Committee. The trial involved shipments from Inglewood Timber Processors.

Associate primary industry minister Jo Goodhew says the non-chemical solution requires that inspected timber is either kept within an insect-proof environment until it is put in a container and sealed, or put in a container during daylight hours of the same day to avoid the nocturnal beetle.

She says negotiating alternative solutions with trading partners such as Australia eliminates the cost of treatment and creates savings for exporters. It also reduces the phytosanitary use of methyl bromide, a gas that damages the ozone layer and which New Zealand has pledged under international treaty to phase out over time.

Source: NZ Government media release (edited)