The US SC Forestry Commission has said that a ban by China on imported South Carolina and Virginia grown logs is close to ending now that a small delegation of Chinese authorities has visited the areas. Sources: Traditional BreakBulk, The Times and Democrat
The commission organized the meeting with ports officials, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and S.C. forest industry.
The funded visit resulted in a six-month trial period for South Carolina and Virginia logs.
China stopped log imports from the two states more than a year ago when shipments were found to contain the pinewood nematode, an insect that kills trees in some parts of the world but is harmless in the US.
Under the pilot program log shipments can resume but with increased testing and certification steps. If South Carolina and Virginia logs meet standards set by
Chinese inspectors the ban may be lifted so that those logs will share the same approved status as those exported from other states.
The ban applied only to logs, not lumber or other manufactured wood products because the processing of the other products kills any pests that may be present.
Raw log exports account for less than $10 million of the very large $1.3 billion in international forest product exports from South Carolina each year.
