72 



Test Shipment Scientific Panel Meeting 



Sacramento, California 



Marcii 12-13, 1992 



INTRODUCTION 



Several timber companies in the United States have expressed interest in importing 

 unprocessed larch logs from Siberia and the Soviet Far East. Texas Timber and Exporting 

 (TTE), with assistance from the USDA and State officials, drafted a test slupment protocol for 

 importing Siberian larch (Larix spp.) logs (appendix A). In January of 1992, APHIS asked 

 the Forest Service to assemble a Test Shipment Advisory Par.el to evaluate the effectiveness 

 of the TTE-proposed protocol. The Forest Service then contracted LABAT-ANDERSON 

 Incorporated to assemble the Panel and facilitate a meeting to review the TTE-proposed 

 Siberian larch test shipment protocol. 



At the direction of the Forest Service, LABAT-ANDERSON secured agreements from the 

 following scientists to be on the Panel: Dale Bergdahl, University of Vermont; Harold 

 Burdsall, Forest Service; Robert Gilbertson, University of Arizona; Terry HighJey, Forest 

 Service; John D. Lattin, Oregon State University; Jeffery Morrell, Oregon State University; 

 Thomas Payne, Virginia Tech.; William Wallner, Forest Service; and David Wood, University 

 of California, Berkeley. The Test Shipment Advisory Panel meeting was held at the APHIS 

 Western Regional Office in Sacramento, California on March 12 and 13, 1992. In addition to 

 the Panel, the meeting was attended by James Fons, APHIS, and Dorthea Zadig, CDFA; and 

 it was facilitated by LABAT-ANDERSON staff, Philip Sczerzenie, Thomas Brennan, and Sean 

 Morris. 



Dr. Sczerzenie called the meeting to order and asked members of the Panel to introduce 

 themselves. After the introductions. Dr. Sczerzenie outlined the objective of the Test 

 Shipment Advisory Panel: to evaluate the TTE-proposed Siberian larch log test shipment 

 protocol and to advise whether it is safe for APHIS to make exceptions to the conclusions of 

 its 1991 mitigation report for test shipments as proposed and, if not, whether ar^ 

 modifications would make it safe. 



REVIEW OF SIBERIAN TIMBER PROJECT 



Mr. Breruian then gave a brief summary of the history of the Siberian timber project. The 

 U.S. goverriment has no existing regulations for importing timber. The small amounts of 

 timber that have been imported have been visually inspected at the port of entry, and the 

 importer has been required to take mitigation measures to combat any pest found. However, 

 this mitigation approach is not feasible for timber from Siberia because the volume of logs 

 proposed for importation is too large. 



Mr. Brennan then explained how, at the begirming of this project (fall 1990), APHIS asked the 

 Forest Service to: 



• Identify exotic organisms with the potential of becoming pests that may infect or 



infest unprocessed logs from Siberia and the Soviet Far East. 



