October 5, 2005
TO: NAMO Members
FR: Helen Brohl
RE: WPM Summary
On Tuesday, September 27, 2005, NAMO members received Ms. Cathy Sauceda from CBP's Agricultural Inspection Policy and Planning Office to discuss enforcement of the USDA rule on wood packing materials (i.e. Int'l Plant Protection Convention).
Ms. Sauceda acknowledged the issues/concerns surrounding the IPPC and dunnage. Attached is the Power Point that Ms. Sauceda presented. Most importantly, members are reminded that CBP has implemented a compliance period beyond the Sept. 16th implementation date for enforcement because they found that 76% of WPM entering the U.S. between July 1-31, 2005 was noncompliant.
There will be three phases of implementation with "dunnage" being addressed in Phase 3, beginning July 5, 2006. We understand that Mexico and Canada have also adopted the phase in perod. Interested parties are encouraged to contact the USDA "answer man" regarding WPM to provide comment to the issue. The contact is John Lagner at 866-738-8197. John will only be in that position for a few more weeks but the service should be available until Thanksgiving.