7-13-01 Minutes
Attendees:
Bill Snell (Trade Negotiator, USDA/APHIS, Riverdale, MD)
Dave Lamb (Export Specialist, USDA/APHIS, Riverdale, MD)
Bob Sanders (IBM, RTP, NC)
Paul Russell (HP)
Ron Johnson (Intel, Hillsboro, OR)
Eric Wenger (Cisco, San Jose, CA)
Dr. Richard Hoffman (U. of Nebraska, Lincoln)
Discussion / Minutes;
This was the rescheduling of the meeting postponed from 7/12 which itself
was the reschedule of the normal meeting moved from July 19th. Naturally, the turnout was relatively low due to the calendar churn. Key members of USDA / APHIS were invited to discuss in particular the use of the bug free symbol and how we in the EIPS team should plan to implement it.The notion of trademarking the symbol by IBM was discussed off-line with Legal Staff in IBM. The decision was made that there is no compelling advantage for IBM to do this and that it was up to us as the EIPS team to decide what to do with it. The prevailing opinion of the EIPS team was to relinquish control of the symbol to USDA or ALSC (American Lumber Standards Committee) for the purposes of increasing its chances of becoming a meaningful indication of proper treatment and serve our purposes of trace ability which is required by the EU Directive. The USDA is pleased with this and has referred us to ALSC President Tom Searles to explore the next steps regarding trademarking and using the symbol correctly.
As an aside, the IBM Legal Staff also found no reason to add any legal language or disclaimers to the EIPS spec itself.
The privilege to use the symbol will be awarded to those manufacturers that engage one of the ALSC member grading agencies and receive the stamps from that agency. They will then be given an identification code which also becomes part of the marking on the pallets. In addition to the bug free symbol, the specific agency logo will become part of the stamp to allow tracing back to the grading agency and then ultimately to the treatment facility. There are approximately 10 agencies that are involved in the US in this regard. Meetings are planned for 7/26 to further implement
this system in the US. Canada is also well positioned overall but status is not known. Markings could begin as early as 8/1/01. I may need to provide a "blank space" in the marking protocol to represent the position where the agency logo would be placed.The draft UN harmonized standard will be getting released for review soon (see WoodPack.pdf). This will be an opportunity to influence application of the marking protocol on an International scale. The current draft of the standard does include an early version of the bug free symbol combined with the treatment, country and facility code. Coniferous (C) and Non-Coniferous (NC) designations are not part of the UN Standard since both are treated equally in that standard. There are no anticipated problems with us using the "C" and "NC" designations on our packaging at this time to help us differentiate materials which may be acceptable but are not presently heat treated. For instance, untreated NC may still be sent to the EU after 10/1/2001.
(See attached file: WoodPack.pdf)
IMPORTANT: For the symbol to be effective it must be used ONLY for regulated materials which have been treated per the ALSC requirements. Otherwise, the symbol will not be trusted and something else will need to be used. Pallet users may use the other aspects of the marking protocol (C-HT, etc.) but not use the bug free symbol until the control process is established. There is not a website cross-reference of approved companies and their assigned facility code. If tracing is necessary this can be done via the ALSC. Although there has been some
interest in using the bug free symbol on MWPM's (plywood,etc) to our knowledge this is not presently the case so we still have a chance to implement the new symbol with a pure process linked only to the regulated and treated non-manufactured wood materials. Also, there is no need to apply the symbol within the EU since packaging made within the EU is not restricted, only imports from US, Canada, Japan, and China. The USDA encouraged us to work with our contacts in Japan and China to begin working with the Plant Protection Organizations in their respective countries in similar fashion as we are doing here.All indications are that the enforcement date of 10/1/2001 will be applied with some leeway. That is, shipments will not be rejected unless clear evidence of infestation is present. Instead, the countries will most likely notify companies shipping non-compliant materials (Finland example).
This transition period may last as long as 12 months as these processes mature on both sides of the Atlantic. All exporters (US, Canada, Japan, China) are still encouraged to comply as fully as possible as early as possible to give confidence to the EU countries that the matter is not being ignored. We in EIPS have a leadership role in this regard by setting a positive example.
Next Steps:
1. Bob to follow-up with Tom Searles (President of ALSC) regarding use and control of the bug free symbol (Mtg. Monday, 7/16 requested).
2. Bob to update the EIPS draft spec as necessary to convey the limitations on the use of the symbol and the process associated with it (per discussions with USDA and ALSC).
3. All: Immediately encourage all your suppliers to get engaged with their local grading agency so that they can begin using the stamp where authorized.
4. I suggest bi-monthly EIPS meetings from now through October to keep the momentum going. (First Thursday and Third Thursdays, same time and access numbers apply).