Thread: Problems exporting timber items to other countries ?

Hi Bill, I export timber full time all over the world including Scotland where I was born with no problems it just requires fumigation. Cheers Bob

Originally Posted by steamingbill

Hello,

My wife wants to move to Edinburgh.

This would mean taking my best bits of timber with me. King Billy Pine, Black Heart Sassafras, Blackwood, Huon Pine and Redgum would be the best bits.

Pickfords advise that my timber must be treated and stamped prior to entry to Britain.
AM puzzled by this as many pieces of wooden furniture are varnished on the outside but raw on the inside. Consider your average wooden table or chest of drawers or wardrobe or guitar - the interior surface is sanded smooth but otherwise quite similar to a raw piece of wood.

I could make my timber into crude boxes, varnish the outside and hey presto its not raw any more.

I would have thought that there would be some sort of standard fumigating or radiation procedure to ensure any exotic wood guzzling beasties are stopped at relevant control points.

Anybody got any experience on this issue or know of any good web pages to have a look at ?

So far I have sent emails to

Steritech in Dandenong
Forestry Commission in Scotland


Regards

Bill

Yup as above, the standard process is to have it fumigated to kill the nasties. If you were moving coffee tables wardrobes etc I am fairly sure these too will require fumigation but pick fords as a moving company may have a process that covers these items. Anybody manufacturer shipping new furniture would have to supply certificates etc for fumigation.
cheers

Originally Posted by Wrongwayfirst

Yup as above, the standard process is to have it fumigated to kill the nasties. If you were moving coffee tables wardrobes etc I am fairly sure these too will require fumigation but pick fords as a moving company may have a process that covers these items. Anybody manufacturer shipping new furniture would have to supply certificates etc for fumigation.
cheers

I sent a pack of Tasmanian Blackwood for one mandolin to Wales last year and didn't too anything to it. When asked to describe the contents, I simply stated that it was "musical instrument parts" and it was delivered unchallenged. Mind you, the postage at this end and customs tariff bill at the destination made it uneconomical for a repeat order.

On the other hand, I purchased 10 violin fingerboards (already shaped and sized) from India recently (cost $75) and was charged $115.00 by customs at our end because the sender stated "ebony wood" as the description of the contents. If they had said it contained musical instrument parts, it would have gone through unchallenged. When I asked the customs people how they arrived at the charge of $115, I was told that to unwrap a package, inspect it and rewrap was the basis for the charge.