Since 2018, climate change and temperature shifts associated with this, increased the occurrence of bark-beetle induced calamity wood. Consequently, the significant Ips typographus outbreak in German spruce forests prompted harvesting, thus temporarily increasing timber market supply. This situation made Germany a key player in Europe’s log exports to China. In order to prevent the further spread of this quarantine pest, the Chinese government regulates the pre-shipment treatment of infested logs for import to China. Of the prescribed methods, the only authorised option and a common practice in Germany is fumigation of freight containers loaded with infested round wood logs with the plant protection product ProFume® containing sulfuryl fluoride (SO2F2) as active substance. In recent years, the Phytosanitary Control Centre at Germany’s primary domestic port of export for logs has received considerable complaints from China, particularly about fumigation at low temperatures and in winter. The “KLIMAtiv” project, funded by Germany’s Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, investigated effective ProFume® wood log fumigation because of the significance for inter Community traffic of goods, international trade and national plant protection management. This presentation discusses constraints and suggested improvements for fumigating spruce logs with SO2F2 within common freight containers. Improvements to the technical method are possible, focusing on increasing the biological effectiveness and addressing for SO2F2’s considerable global warming potential.

Download document (985 kb)
free for the members of IRG. Available if purchased.

Purchase this document