September 21, 2001 Geo. S. Bush & Co., Inc. News Bulletin

New Export Packing Requirements for European Union Countries

Dear Customer,

As your Freight Forwarder, Geo. S. Bush & Co. wishes to inform you of new regulations passed by the European Union. If you export product shipped in crates, on pallets, or utilize wood dunnage in full containers destined for European Union countries on or after October 1, 2001 you will be affected by this policy. Countries included in the European Union are: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Ireland, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and United Kingdom.

The measure that has been passed was instituted to protect the importation of pests imbedded in crating and packaging crating and packaging materials originating from the United States, Canada, Japan and China. Effectively, this means that any crate, pallet, or dunnage material originating in the U.S. will have to be made from one of the following materials: hardwood, certified heat treated softwood, plywood or a composite product like waferboard or fiberboard. Green lumber of any species is deemed unacceptable for any export shipment to the E.U. Effective date of this regulation is October 1, 2001. Materials shipped before October 1 with a bill of lading as proof and arriving in EU after the effective date are not affected. Materials shipped on or after October 1 are subject to the regulation.

The EU emergency measures allow for three treatment options for coniferous Non-Manufactured Wood Products (NMWP). 1.) heat treatment (HT) 2.) fumigation 3.) chemical pressure impregnation (CPI). In all cases the treated wood must bear a stamp indicating the organization that treated the NMWP and the location of that organization.

The EU is requiring a new series of heat treated grade stamps to comply with their rules. Until very recently these new stamps were unavailable. This is reason for the short notice in sending this alert. The grade stamp has to be obtained through a licensed agency approved by the American Lumber Standards Committee, the group that negotiated with the EU. The licensing agencies have put in effect a new program for certifying heat treated lumber via multiple grade stamps. This week is the first week that any sawmill will be producing lumber with an acceptable heat treated stamp. The old kiln dried

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stamps have been deemed unacceptable. This stamp is designed to be a paperless system. No other documentation is required.

We have included a list of “most frequently asked questions” from the USDA/APHIS web site for your review. Please visit their sight directly at www.aphis.usda.gov for further information. For a list of NMWP facilities participating in the program contact your local affiliated grading agency. This local agency is the West Coast Lumber Inspection Bureau (503) 639-0651. Also, please feel free to contact your local Geo. S. Bush Co. representative at (503)-228-6501 with any questions or concerns. We apologize for the short notice, but we have been unable to react until the grade stamping rules were put in to place last week.

It appears that the EU heat treatment regulation option will be instituted as an international standard to all countries in April 2003. Therefore, this is a good time to institute processes that comply with new and future regulations.

Thank you kindly for your business. We will make every effort to assist you through this transition.

Sincerely,

Geo. S. Bush & Co., Inc.