China- says it haltt timber trade with Australia for fear of ‘live forests pest’ during COVID-19
China halted log timber from New South Wales and Western Australia from Wednesday after discovering ‘live forest pests’ in imports.
According to Report ,China banned Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania between October and December on the same grounds of pest infestation.
Australia was the first country to ban Huawei from participating in 5G deployment citing national security.
China has banned timber imports from two more Australian states due to pests, meaning the trade has now been cut from six of the country’s seven states as the conflict between the two trading partners continued.
The General Administration of Customs of China halted log timber imports from New South Wales and Western Australia from Wednesday in line with China’s sanitary measures and quarantine laws, according to a notice published on its website. The latest ban follows the suspensions of log timber imports from Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania since late October. With most of Australia’s timber exports to China coming from the six states now banned, the latest move means the log timber trade between the two countries has almost completely ceased.
Queensland was the first to be banned on October 31 when Chinese customs said it found a pest, the bark beetle Ips grandicollis, in logs imported from the state. Subsequently, log timber from the other three states were also blocked on the same grounds of pest infestation.
Recently, customs in Tianjin, Nanjing, Xiamen, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Huangpu discovered live forest pests in logs imported from New South Wales and Western Australia,” the notice said.
In order to prevent the introduction of harmful organisms and protect our country’s agricultural and forestry production and ecological safety, we have hereby decided to suspend log imports from Australia’s New South Wales and Western Australia states.” China’s customs agency confirmed it had notified authorities in Australia.
