NEW ZEALAND ON EU'S PLAN TO REQUIRE DEBARKING OF

UNCLAS WELLINGTON 000073 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS USDA FOR FAS-WESTCOT, FAS-EAMED AND APHIS-ACKERMAN USDOC FOR ITA-ZACHOS STATE PASS USTR-MOLNAR STATE FOR EB-MSINGER, EB-JSTRUBLE AND EAP/ANP-DRICCI E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAGR ETRD EU WTRO NZ SUBJECT: NEW ZEALAND ON EU'S PLAN TO REQUIRE DEBARKING OF WOOD PACKAGING MATERIALS REF: 05 STATE 210901 ¶1. (U) Post on November 21 delivered reftel points to the European Division of the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and to the International Policy Division of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF). In response, Meredith Stokdijk, acting director of MAF's International Policy Division, wrote in a January 20 letter that New Zealand would continue to encourage the European Union not to impose unilateral requirements for wood packaging materials that would likely undermine the adoption of the international standard, ISPM 15, internationally. ¶2. (U) In her letter, Stokdijk said that her government acknowledged that the EU's debarking measure was not a standard requirement of ISPM 15. "New Zealand does not believe that taking a measure against bark is unjustified, but rather that the implementation of any such requirement should not impede the international adoption of ISPM 15," she wrote. ¶3. (U) Stokdijk noted that New Zealand requires all imported wood packaging materials (WPM) to be bark-free but that, rather than requiring debarking as part of ISPM 15 compliance, bark "is removed or treated on arrival before being allowed clearance into New Zealand." In essence, she wrote, this means that New Zealand's requirements do not impede the flow of ISPM 15-compliant WPM internationally. ¶4. (SBU) Comment: Essentially, it is tough for the Kiwis to argue against the EU implementing a practice that New Zealand already requires. New Zealand does share our concern that an EU debarking provision could cause serious disruptions to trade. It also places the highest priority on the international adoption of ISPM 15. New Zealand expects the EU probably will again suspend implementation of a debarking requirement for WPM for another year. The International Plant Protection Convention's (IPPC) Technical Panel on Forest Quarantine is scheduled to meet in June 2006 and will review the technical merits supporting debarking as well as the feasibility of enforcement. Michael Ormsby of Biosecurity New Zealand chairs the IPPC's technical panel. Burnett