Containers of stone imports from China are to be checked by the Forestry Commission at the docks for Asian Longhorn Beetles after the pests have been found in wooden packaging even though it has been marked as having been treated.

The European-wide move follows outbreaks of the beetles in Europe and America, where they have no natural enemies and kill trees.

An outbreak in Paddock Wood, Kent, last year led to the felling of 2,166 trees in order to contain an outbreak. It was found that 66 (3%) of the trees had been infected.

Only containers of stone are being checked as it is only in stone packaging that the problem has arisen.

Because the bugs have been found in containers carrying the ISPM15 mark, which shows the wood has been treated, the mark will not be a way of avoiding inspection.

The Forestry Commission says it hopes that its inspections will delay delivery of the stone by no more than 1-3 days, but Giles Heap, of stone hard landscaping specialist CED, thinks the Forestry Commission’s estimate of the length of delay might be optimistic.

The inspections begin on 1 April (no, it is not a joke) and will go on for the next two years.

After this magazine posted news of the imminent inspections on the Stone Federation LinkedIn group, Giles responded: “The Forestry Commission have said that they only expect containers to be delayed by 1-3 days. Some people might read this and think 1-3 days delay? That’s not too bad. But how they expect to check every single container of stone that comes into the UK each week and only delay it by 1-3 days, I don’t know.

“Have they got teams of inspectors with fork-lifts to scurry over every single crate (often stacked three high) from every single container? I would expect delays of at least a week. Especially to start with.”

Giles told NSS that CED alone brings in 700-800 containers of stone a year.

The Forestry Commission says it will identify the contents of containers by their VAT Commodity Code and is targeting all Commodity Codes that involve dimensional stone. It expects to inspect 90% of most categories.

If an infestation is found “we can refuse entry of the consignment, order the destruction of non-compliant or infected material or, in exceptional cases, require treatment,” Ian Brownlee, Operations Manager of Plant Health Service at the Forestry Commission, told NSS.