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Bark on Timber Packaging and Dunnage
Bark is the external natural growth layer covering trees and branches.
Australia has implemented the International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures No. 15 (ISPM15)—Guidelines for regulating wood packaging material in international trade.
Australia requires that solid wood packaging material that is treated and marked as ISPM 15 compliant meets the bark requirements defined in the revised ISPM 15 standard. This requires that solid wood packaging material be free of bark, but allows a tolerance for small pieces of bark that have not been completely removed during milling.
This tolerance for bark will also apply to solid wood packaging treated with other AQIS approved treatments.
Please note that any number of visually separate and clearly distinct small pieces of bark may remain if they are: - less than 3 cm in width (regardless of the length) or greater than 3 cm in width, with the total surface area (length × width) of an individual piece of bark less than 50 square cm (see Figs 1 & 2 below). Any wood packaging and dunnage exceeding the ISPM 15 bark tolerance will be subject to treatment, export or destruction.
Fig. 1. A piece of bark not exceeding 3 cm in width regardless of its length is ISPM 15 compliant.
Fig. 2. A piece of bark exceeding 3 cm in width and with a surface area (length × width) over 50 square cm is non-compliant.
Where bark on timber packaging and dunnage exceeds the bark tolerance limits of ISPM 15, one of the options below will be applied to the consignment to address bark related quarantine risks (all options will be at the importer's expense):
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the timber packaging or dunnage will be ordered for dry heat treatment, ethylene oxide fumigation or gamma irradiation;
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the timber packaging or dunnage will be ordered to have the bark removed at a Quarantine Approved Premise. After the bark has been removed, the consignment will be inspected to verify that bark has been removed and that there is no quarantine risk remaining, such as insects. The removed bark will be destroyed by an AQIS approved method; or,
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the timber packaging or dunnage will be exported or destroyed.
Please note that AQIS maintains its bark freedom requirement for timber imported as a commodity. Only ingrown bark around knots and bark pockets between rings of annual growth are acceptable for commodity timber.
For further details please refer to the Import Conditions Database (ICON).
Wood packaging compliant and non-compliant with bark tolerance 1
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Figure 1 – Wane on edge of board is not regulated |
Figure 2 - Bark on edge of board is less than 3 cm wide and complies with bark tolerances for wood packaging and dunnage |
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Figure 3 - Bark on edge of board is less than 3 cm wide and complies with bark tolerances for wood packaging and dunnage |
Figure 4 - Bark piece is greater than 3 cm wide but is less than 50 square cm and complies with bark tolerances for wood packaging and dunnage |
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Figure 5 - Bark on the edge is wider than 3 cm and the piece is greater than 50 square cm and is not compliant with bark tolerances for wood packaging and dunnage |
Figure 6 - Bark exceeds tolerances (wider than 3 cm and the piece is greater than 50 square cm) and is not compliant with bark tolerances for wood packaging and dunnage |
1 All photographs published with permission of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
30 Jun 2010