SA industry reacts smartly to new pest control measures

THE SA pest control industry, and its clients in the export industry, were mostly alert to a recent addition to the US and Canadian control regulations, according to Henk Pottas, national chairman of the SA Pest Control Association, and owner of Pest Control Specialists in Durban.
This was a demand for all wooden pallets and packaging boxes and materials to be treated for a wood-boring beetle species - alien and troublesome to North America, and noted as coming in on import shipments.
All our coastal branches report they are getting regular calls, and most exporters seem to have been aware of this legislation coming into force in December, said Pottas.
There have been no reports of SA cargoes being turned-back because of non-compliance, but these could still come.
A number of shipments which were already en-route to North America were re-gassed in Australia and New Zealand, according to Pottas. But this for the standard 24-hours at 48 grams of the chemical per cubic metre.
The US and Canada need 48 hours. So some might still be turned away.
Peter Ward of export trade specialists, Phoenix Pest Control, agrees. There could still be some cargoes which had been at sea during the imposition date, he said.
But he also feels that - while the US/Canada reaction resulted in almost overnight arrival of the new regulations - the SA industry which would be affected reacted quite smartly.
Although it's one of the quieter industries in the export scene, pest control plays a vital role in ensuring that SA-sourced cargoes get the appropriate stamp of approval by the health inspectors of foreign import authorities, according to Ward.
It's different fumigants for different products, demanded by different countries around the world, he said.
And international moves have to be closely monitored to make sure that appropriate treatments are used for each destination area.
Shoe leather (blue hide) to Italy needs a specific fumigation, said Ward, as does tobacco to Spain.
And international laws have to be closely monitored to make sure that appropriate treatments are used for each destination area - something which is not a front-page announcement in the international press.
The European Union (EU), for example, is still a bit disorganised, said Ward, but will soon be laying down more specific regulations.
Australia and New Zealand, meantime, update their legislation every year - and are very precise in what they demand.