In October this year the Interpal VIII, 64th annual FEFPEB (Federation Europeenne des Fabricants de Palettes et Emballages en Bois) Congress will be held in Bordeaux, France.
The congress works towards “Creating worldwide objectives for the wooden pallet and packaging industry.” TIMCON concur with this mission, proposing a dispensation of a potential IPSM 15 extension on all wooden pallets and packaging.
TIMCON attended the 2012 congress where it was discussed that ISPM 15 requirements could be extended to all wooden pallets and packaging materials within the European Union and could come into effect as early as 2015. TIMCON has said it would lobby for the UK industry to be given special consideration if the regulations were extended.
President of TIMCON, John Dye, commented: “TIMCON has worked hard through FEFPEB to ensure . . . that changes to the current ISPM 15 regime are implemented in the most efficient and least disruptive way possible.”
TIMCON highly commended FEFPEB for their well co-ordinated approach to managing changes to the European wooden pallet and packaging industry, but added that an extension to ISPM 15 would be costly. This has pushed TIMCON to call for a dispensation for the UK industry.
Mr Dye added: “The UK is an island, and we believe a significant proportion of the movements of timber pallets and packaging manufactured here remains in the country. We therefore believe a dispensation is justified, and we will be lobbying hard to have this recognised when ISPM 15 regulations are reviewed.
“We will also be liaising with our colleagues the Forestry Commission, who, like TIMCON, will want to minimize the additional cost and complexity for all UK businesses."
Referring to last year’s conference, Mr Dye commented: “The FEFPEB Congress was very well organised and was a great success.
“TIMCON attended this key event as part of its ongoing work to represent the UK industry in Europe.”
The agenda for the 64th annual congress, which will be held on the 16 – 18th October 2013, includes discussing the impact of the recession, worldwide timber trends and whether a common approach to ISPM 15 matters can be established. The latter will be a prominent debate which will hopefully conclude with a European agreement on the proposed extension.
