Since 1993, New Zealand has exported an average of 40,000 tonnes a year of radiata pine logs to the United States. There has also been increasing demand for kiln dried lumber, remanufactured products and wood chips. NZ officials and industry believe that the environmentalists' agenda is more to do with changing US forest industry practices and limiting exports and imports to force recycling and use of alternative fibre products by US consumers. All logs must be fumigated inside a sealable container or ship's hold within 45 days of being felled. They must remain within the same container for shipment.
Lumber is packed and shipped in block-stacked packets, usually wrapped in waterproof plastic.
Because of the special nature of radiata pine, and to enhance the value and end use options for the product, all logs leaving NZ for the US are sprayed with an anti-sapstain solution. This offers up to three months protection against the development, and therefore export, of the fungi causing sapstain. There has also been concern from US environmentalists about the number of dead insects and eggs on NZ logs - strong evidence, surely, of the effectiveness of our protection system.