Part B: Low Risk Wooden and Related Articles Scheme Treatment Standard

1. Products covered under this Scheme/Standard must comply with Section 1.3 and must be made from:

• processed solid timber (processed/treated as per columns 1 and 2), and/or timber-based products made from plywood, veneer, reconstituted wood; or
• processed bamboo, cane, rattan, willow and wicker; or
• combination of the above materials (products hereafter referred to as manufactured wooden and related articles).

2. Products protected only by a permanent timber preservative are excluded from the Scheme.

3. Products made using a component of laminaboard (laminboard) or blockboard are excluded from the Scheme.

4. Wood packaging materials are excluded from the Scheme.

5. Products containing/made from dried leaves, dried grasses or similar products or other plant parts (e.g. roots, bark) are excluded from the Scheme.

6. The only seeds that may be allowed under the Scheme are permitted seeds covered under the Quarantine Proclamation 1998 (Schedule 5). These may need to be identified to either genus or species. (See comlaw website).

The AQIS’s Import Condition (ICON) for Manufactured Wooden - Articles includes products made from timber, wood, plywood, veneer, part reconstituted wood, rattan, cane or their combination. Components that are of non-quarantine concern may form part of the manufactured wooden article (e.g. steel, plastic, foam, etc.). These manufactured wooden articles may have undergone extensive processing and may have packing and storage processes, as well as shipping times that reduce the risk of re-infestation to an acceptably low level.

Products other than Manufactured Wooden Articles, Bamboo Articles, Cane and Rattan Articles and Willow and Wicker Articles that have their own specific AQIS Import Conditions on ICON are not covered by the Scheme; for example, plywood and veneer sheets (also see Section 1.3).

1. Manufactured wooden articles made from solid timber must have at least one dimension less than or equal to 200 mm.

2. Articles made from solid timber must be free of bark.

3. Articles made from solid timber must receive one of the following heat/drying treatments during or before manufacture:

• Must receive a heat treatment of 56ºC at the core for 30 minutes during manufacturing; or
• Must be kiln dried at 74ºC or above for 4 hours (depends on thickness of timber).

4. All heat treated timber must be processed immediately into the finished products or stored securely to prevent re-infestation. The finished product must be containerised, shipped or securely stored within 21 or 90 days of receiving the heat treatment (depends on geographical locality). A second Quarantine treatment may be required if finished products cannot be containerised, shipped or securely stored within the time frames specified above.

5. Articles may be made from solid wood following an auditable standard (national or international) or under a quality control system such as International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) or Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand (JAS-ANZ). This should be included as part of the application.

6. All articles made from wood or solid timber must comply with AQIS’s storage requirements as detailed in Section 4.

7. Articles wrapped with plastic wraps or coated with impervious layers such as synthetic paint, resin, varnish, wax and lacquer and requiring fumigation treatment must comply with AQIS’s requirements for impervious coatings and the perforation standard for plastic wrapping (see Sections 5 & 6).

Products in this category that do not receive one of the treatments in column 1 during manufacture can receive one of the following treatments. A risk assessment will be undertaken to ensure that these treatments are suitable for a particular commodity to reduce the assessed quarantine risk to an acceptably low level:

1. Articles made from solid timber must receive one of the following heat/drying treatments during or before manufacture:

• Must receive a heat treatment of 56ºC at the core for 30 minutes during manufacturing (see T9968 of AQIS ICON - Wooden Articles Manufactured); or
• Must be kiln dried at 74ºC or above for 4 hours (depends on thickness of timber) (See T9912 of AQIS ICON - Wooden Articles Manufactured).

2. Methyl bromide - must receive a fumigation treatment with methyl bromide at 48g/m3 for 24 hours at ≥21ºC or 64g/m³ for 4 hours at ≥21ºC under vacuum (660 mm vacuum) during manufacturing of the articles (see AQIS MB standard for details).

3. Ethylene oxide (ETO) - must receive a fumigation treatment with ethylene oxide under initial minimum vacuum of 50 kilopascals at 1500g/m³ for 4 hours at ≥50ºC; or 1500g/m³ for 24 hours at ≥ 21ºC. (See information on AQIS website about ETO treatment providers’ scheme).

4. Irradiation – must receive a gamma irradiation treatment at 25 kGray (2.5 Mrad). (See information on AQIS website about Gamma irradiation treatment providers’ scheme).

Methyl bromide will only penetrate up to 100 mm (4 inches) from the surface into the timber within the fumigation exposure period (see AQIS quarantine treatments and fumigants). Therefore, timber greater than 200 mm (8 inches) thick cannot be treated effectively using equipment and facilities used for standard methyl bromide fumigations.

Manufactured wooden articles that are not assessed as being low risk must meet the existing AQIS requirements. See details on ICON database at www.aqis.gov.au for the importation of Wooden Articles Manufactured.

1. Veneer based products such as Plywood and Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL) must meet the following conditions during manufacturing of veneer sheets and plywood:
   • Veneer should be peeled from logs free of bark, insect activity and fungal decay.
   • Individual veneer thickness in the plywood must be less than 3 mm. See below for additional requirements when veneers are over 3 mm thick.
   • Logs used for peeling veneer must be conditioned using a hot bath at >40ºC for a minimum of 12 hours or steam- conditioned (>90ºC) for a minimum of six hours.
   • Peeled veneer sheets used in plywoods must be glued together, pressed and dried at >100ºC for at least five minutes.
   • Glue line treatments with insecticidal additives (e.g. AS/NZS 1604 parts 2, 3 and 4 to Hazard Level H1 or H2) can be used as an additional measure to mitigate quarantine concerns.
   • Plywood products must be dried to a final average moisture content of less than 15% .
   • Panel products must not use substrates made from cubes of solid wood (e.g. blockboard) and must comply with AQIS’s requirements for substrate as detailed in Section 3.
   • The application should include details if the product is made following an auditable standard (national or international) or a quality control system (e.g. ISO, JAS-NZ, Plywood Association of Australasia - PAA).

2. Plywood products with individual veneers of over 3 mm thickness must receive the following treatments:

• Heat treatment of 56ºC for 30 minutes at the core during drying
• A glue line treatment that is mixed with an appropriate pesticide (details must be provided as indicated above)
• A final moisture content of the plywood product should be a final average moisture content of less than 15%.

3. All plywood and veneer articles must comply with AQIS’s storage guidelines as detailed in Section 4. Alternatively, products made from plywood and veneer must comply with post-manufacture storage requirements as set out in Australian Standard AS/NZS 1859 series published by Standards Australia.

4. Plywood products that are coated with impervious layers such as synthetic paint, resin, varnish, wax or lacquer must be fumigated before the application of the impervious layer (see Section 5). Plywood products wrapped with plastic wraps must comply with AQIS’s Perforation Standard for Plastic Wrapping (see Section 6).

Plywood and veneer products that do not receive a treatment listed in column 1 during manufacturing must receive a methyl bromide, ethylene oxide, or gamma irradiation treatment as detailed in section 2.2 above; or

Kiln dried at 74ºC or above for 4 hours (depends on thickness of timber) (See T9912 of AQIS ICON - Wooden Articles Manufactured); or

Heat treatment at 74ºC for at least 60 minutes once the core temperature has been reached (T10025).

For details of substrate requirements for manufactured veneer and panel products see Section 3.

AQIS has no quarantine concerns with products or articles made solely of reconstituted wood. These pose minimal quarantine risk, and can be released without quarantine intervention. Reconstituted wood products are those that as a result of the manufacturing process no longer contain solid wood. This includes particleboard, chipboard, hardboard (masonite), Oriented Strand Board (OSB), medium and high density fibreboard (MDF and HDF respectively).

AQIS has concerns with products made from plywood and veneer components because:

1. products made from plywood are still natural wood products and could attract timber pests if stored in an environment that favours pests;
2. plywood and substrates used for veneer are hygroscopic (i.e. they have the capacity to absorb moisture) and this may encourage infestation by pests (e.g. termites);
3. reconstituted wood products may also absorb water, but generally are less porous and contain more water repellents than veneer-based products; and
4. the finished product may have a small amount of solid timber components (e.g. as a border or as structural components).

Examples of acceptable glue line pesticides for veneer-based products, and reconstituted wood, or acceptable equivalent standards are provided in Cargo Container: Quarantine aspects and procedures.

Panel products and plywood products not assessed as low risk must enter Australia meeting AQIS’s existing requirements for Manufactured Wooden Articles. See details on ICON database at www.aqis.gov.au for import conditions for these products.

1. All products must be made from materials free of bark in the case of willow, wicker, cane or rattan, or external cuticles in the case of bamboo.

2. All materials (willow, wicker, cane, rattan and bamboo) must receive one of the following treatments:

• Heat (hot air/steam) or kiln drying - all raw materials must receive a heat treatment of at least 56ºC at the core for at least 30 minutes during manufacturing; or
• Boiling - all raw materials must be boiled/steamed (≥100ºC) for at least 30 minutes and then dried to an average moisture content of 12% or less.
• All heat/boiled bamboo, cane, rattan, willow and wicker must be processed immediately or else stored securely after treatment to prevent infestation. The finished product must be containerised, shipped or securely stored within 21 or 90 days of receiving the heat treatment (depends on geographical locality). A second quarantine treatment may be required if finished products cannot be containerised, shipped or securely stored within the time frame specified above.

3. Products made from willow, wicker, cane, rattan or bamboo may be manufactured following an auditable standard (national or international) or a quality control system (e.g. ISO, JAS-ANZ). This information should be included in the application.

4. All willow, wicker, cane, rattan or bamboo products must meet AQIS’s storage requirements as detailed in Section 4.

5. Willow, wicker, cane, rattan or bamboo products must be fumigated before the application of any impervious layers such as synthetic paint, resin, varnish, wax or lacquer (see Section 5). Products wrapped with plastic wraps must comply with the AQIS Perforation Standard for Plastic Wrapping (see Section 6).

Products made from willow, cane, rattan and bamboo not meeting one of the required quarantine treatments during manufacturing must receive either a methyl bromide, ethylene oxide or gamma irradiation treatment as detailed in Section 2.2.

AQIS has concerns with products made from bamboo, cane, rattan and willow and wicker because:

1. these products are often manufactured in rural-based cottage industries;
2. processing of the raw materials in a cottage industry-based environment will have no rigorous quality control mechanisms and will not have processes adequate to address quarantine concerns;
3. these products may be sent for pre-export methyl bromide fumigation after the application of lacquer and paints. This is not acceptable to AQIS, as efficacy of fumigation is almost completely reduced if the product is sent for fumigation after the application of impervious coatings
4. these products can harbour pests if not treated properly and can be susceptible to infestation or re-infestation by some specific pests (e.g. termites – Cryptotermis spp., powder post beetles – Dinoderus spp.); and
5. the complex nature of finished products means that they often contain small amounts of other materials such as solid timber used as supporting or structural components.

Products made from bamboo, cane, rattan, willow and wicker that have not been assessed as low risk must meet AQIS’s existing requirements to enter Australia. See details on ICON database at (www.aqis.gov.au) for the importation of Wooden Articles Manufactured, Bamboo Articles, Cane and Rattan Articles, and Willow and Wicker Articles.

1. All substrates used for veneer panels must not contain solid cubes of wood or sizable pieces of solid wood. These include laminaboard (laminboard) and blockboard.
2. AQIS only accepts substrates for veneers that are free of solid wood i.e. made from reconstituted wood or wood particles (such as wood flakes, sawmill shavings, or even sawdust), that are bonded together with synthetic resin or other suitable binders, and are pressed and extruded. Substrates for veneers or panel products that are acceptable to AQIS may include:
   • particle board
   • chipboard
   • flake board
   • hardboard/masonite
   • orientated strand board
   • medium and high density fibre board.

Various types of substrates such as particle board are used for the production of veneered panels. However, not all of these substrates are free of quarantine concerns because of the presence of sizable pieces of solid timber in some of these substrates (e.g. blockboard). These pieces of sold timber can harbour pests or be easily infested or re-infested by pests (see Appendix 2 for details of substrate requirements).

AQIS acknowledges that there may be a range of other reconstituted wood products used as a substrate for veneer products. AQIS will assess production processes of those materials on a case by case basis.

1. After manufacturing all LRWRA must be stored in a way to prevent contamination by hitchhiker pests and/or other pests or quarantine risk material.

Some suggested guideline for storing finished products are:

• All buildings and structures must be maintained in a state of good repair and be weather-proof. All wall/floor junctions must be sealed, or some other measure must be in place to ensure that vegetation can not grow into the building;
• All buildings must be kept clean at all times and cargo/packaging residues, contaminants and spillages must be cleaned up and correctly disposed of without delay;
• An effective pest control program must be in place to ensure that goods are not contaminated or infested by pests during storage. A document outlining the control measures (including the use of insecticides, rodenticides, baits and traps) and contract details where applicable, must be supplied with the application form.
• If timber or timber components are treated with the quarantine treatment(s) before assembly, they must be stored securely to prevent infestation by pests.
• All finished articles (products) must be packed immediately after production and stored securely until shipment/containerisation within 21 days or three months of the treatment date depending on the geographical region.
• The stack should be placed in a way so that it will not be exposed to mechanical damage.
• If packs are supported on bearers care must be taken to ensure water does not make contact with the bearers.

AQIS accepts the requirements for storage and handling of veneer, substrates and veneered panels set in the AS/NZS 1859 series dealing with reconstituted wood-based panels as well as The Australia/New Zealand plywood and LVL product standards AS/NZS 2269, AS/NZS 2270, AS/NZS 2271, AS/NZS 2272 and AS/NZS 4357.

The following points are to be considered to ensure if storage conditions are appropriate.

1. Are the goods containerised?
2. Are the goods wrapped?
3. Are the goods stored in a locked storage?
4. Are the goods isolated from non-accredited products?
5. Are the goods sharing a storage space with other products?
6. What methods are in place to prevent cross contamination if goods are stored with other products?
7. What routine pest control measures are taken, such as a monthly spraying schedule?
8. What rodent (rat) control measures are in place?
9. What post-manufacturing treatments, if any, (fumigation, radiation, etc.) are carried out to prevent infestation or reinfestation by pests?
10. What post-manufacturing treatments, if any, (fumigation, radiation, etc.) are carried out to prevent infestation or re-infestation by pests?

Manufacturers who use methyl bromide as the only quarantine treatment for their manufactured wooden articles must fumigate the articles before the application of impervious coatings.

Coatings may be applied before fumigation only if the product has at least one uncoated surface on each component and each component has a maximum thickness of 100 mm.

A methyl bromide treatment certificate detailing that fumigation occurred before the application of impervious coatings will be required for all such commodities.

Impervious coatings such as synthetic paint, resin, varnish, wax or lacquer, used before or after the manufacturing process can significantly reduce the efficacy of a methyl bromide treatment. (see Impervious wrappings surfaces and coatings section of the AQIS Methyl Bromide Fumigation Standard).

Plastic wrappings used around manufactured wooden articles and other articles do not need to be cut or removed before fumigation if the wrapping conforms to the AQIS Wrapping and Perforation Standard

Plastic wrapping used around Manufactured Wooden Articles and other articles must be slashed, cut or removed before fumigation if it does not conform to the AQIS Wrapping and Perforation Standard.

Plastic wrapping used around commodities prevents penetration of methyl bromide gas. Therefore fumigation should be carried before wrapping with plastic wraps (see Impervious wrappings surfaces and coatings section of the AQIS Methyl Bromide Fumigation Standard).