Dutch interceptions of cerambycid larvae in wood packaging material with stone products from China
The NPPO of the Netherlands recently informed the EPPO Secretariat that during routine surveillance of high-risk import locations of wood packaging material, multiple items of wood packaging material associated with stone products were found to be infested by living larvae of cerambycids (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). At 4 different importing companies, wood packaging material was found to be infested with at least 29 living cerambycid larvae: 17 larvae of Prioninae, 10 larvae of Apriona germani*, 1 larva of Anoplophora glabripennis (EPPO A1 List) and 1 larva tentatively identified as Hesperophanes campestris (EPPO A2 List). All infested wood packaging material originated from China.
One import location was a newly established one which had not been subjected to specific surveillance in previous years. At this company, all infested wood packaging material had been marked with the same ISPM 15 mark and each container was accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate attesting that a heat treatment had been performed in accordance with ISPM 15. Because cerambycids infest living or dying trees with bark (and not dead wood without bark), it is suspected that the treatment was not carried out or has not been effective. The authorities in China have been contacted to initiate investigations. All interceptions are considered to be non-compliant with specific EU requirements for wood packaging material (Annex IVAI-2 of EU Council Directive 2000/29/EC, as amended). Therefore, all infested wood packaging material (as well as all wood packaging material carrying the same ISPM 15 mark at each importing location) will be subject to treatment or destruction. For the newly identified import location, specific surveillance will also be carried out in the vicinity of the company, in line with standard procedures already applied for other high-risk locations. Most consignments of stone at this location had been imported via another EU Member State and close cooperation will be initiated to prevent re-occurrence.
For all the cerambycid species mentioned above, the pest status in the Netherlands is officially declared as: Absent, intercepted only.
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* Note: In the Netherlands, a PRA on Apriona species was completed in June 2010 and statutory measures are now taken against these pests. In addition, an EPPO PRA is also currently under preparation for the EPPO region.
Sources
NPPO of the Netherlands (2012-04).
Ibáñez Justicia A, Potting R (June 2010) Pest Risk Assessment Apriona species (A. germari, A. japonica and A. cinerea). NPPO of The Netherlands, Wageningen (NL), 27 pp. www.vwa.nl/txmpub/files/?p_file_id=2001667