U.S. Dept. of State - IIP: The United States and China

TRANSCRIPT: USDA OFFICIAL ON ASIAN LONGHORNED BEETLE
(U.S. bans untreated wood packaging to stop infestation)
Washington -- The U.S. decision to prohibit untreated solid wood packing materials from China is designed to protect the U.S. environment from further infestation by the Asian longhorned beetle, according to Isi Siddiqui, deputy assistant secretary of agriculture for marketing and regulatory programs.
"The actions we are proposing, the interim rule, is really the most biologically effective solution," Siddiqui said in a September 11 Worldnet "Dialogue" program with Beijing, China. "At the same time, it is the least trade-restrictive solution in accordance with the World Trade Organization rules, as well as our past quarantine policies."
Siddiqui stressed that the new regulations are not intended to single out Chinese imports.
"If this problem was coming from another country we would not hesitate a minute to take the same action," he said.
According to Siddiqui, the regulations will not take full effect until mid-December to allow Chinese officials and exporters to adjust their procedures.
"I think these are what I call user-friendly regulations in terms of resolving the problem at its origin, and also allowing us to process those shipments when they arrive at U.S. ports. Otherwise, if we wanted to really hold up the trade, we'll be inspecting every sea container that is unloaded at U.S. ports," he said.
Siddiqui added that the United States is prepared to offer technical assistance to China.
"Mr. Dunn, who is assistant secretary for agriculture, was in China last week, and he offered to work with both the Chinese quarantine officials as well as exporters in terms of providing technical assistance, and an outreach where we want to work the exporters," he said.
"We have every desire to work with them in resolving the problem where we can continue to trade unaffected, at the same time prevent this beetle coming into those shipments," Siddiqui said. "We are committed to work with the Chinese officials and exporters to find a solution which is a win-win solution for both sides."
Following is the official transcript of the program:
(begin transcript)
WORLDNET "DIALOGUE"
UNITED STATES INFORMATION AGENCY
Television and Film Service of Washington, D.C.
GUEST:    Dr. Isi Siddiqui, U.S. Department of Agriculture
TOPIC:    Asian Longhorned Beetle
POST:    Beijing
HOST:    Judlyn Lily
DATE:    September 11, 1998
MS. LILY: I'm Judlyn Lily. Environmental degradation is a concern that all nations share. The Asian longhorned beetle is a serious pest that attacks hardwood trees, potentially killing entire forests. This in turn creates long-term damage to our environment.
Before we begin our discussion on this topic, I must inform all of our viewers and participants that the information provided in this program is on background only, and the contents of this program in its entirety are embargoed until September 11th at 1500 Universal Time, which is 11:00 A.M. Friday here in Washington D.C.
To show you some of the effects of this particular pest, we have the following clip:
(Begin videotape.)
ANNOUNCER: This insect is chewing its way through some neighborhoods in the U.S. city of Chicago, Illinois. On this quiet street, residents are fighting a losing battle against the Asian longhorned beetle which is killing trees. Officials expect that some travel to Chicago in wood-packing crates from China. Now a growing threat, the insects first started multiplying in the north side of the city. Authorities quarantined the area to try to contain the infestation, but they were unsuccessful. The beetle has now spread to surrounding neighborhoods, and other infestations have occurred up to 25 kilometers away, requiring officials to expand the quarantine zone.
The Asian longhorned beetle has made it to Japan, Korea and a southern China. The only other invasion known in the U.S. was in 1996 in a New York City neighborhood where the insect destroyed 2,000 trees. But that's just a tiny fraction of the more than 60 million trees the bug has already destroyed in Asia.
The female beetle chews the bark of trees to create round holes where she lays her eggs. No know pesticide will eradicate the bug. So the only way to get rid of them is to cut down the infested tree and grind them into chips. Tim Law (sp) is with the U.S. Agriculture Department:
MR. LAW (sp): Any tree that's permanently infested -- it is going to be. That's a given.
ANNOUNCER: Politicians are involved in the problem too. Both Illinois senators are urging the Agriculture Department to work with Chinese officials to examine alternatives to wooden packing materials. Agriculture official Ken Crew (sp) said if the use of the material continues, the beetle problem will probably escalate.
KEN CREW (sp): We are very concerned that there are other infestations out there waiting for us to find.
But in parts of Chicago it's already too late.
(End videotape.)
MS. LILY: To discuss the longhorned beetle with our guests in China, I am honored to introduce Dr. Isi Siddiqui, the deputy assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Thank you so much for joining us, sir. Dr. Siddiqui, why is the Asian longhorned beetle such an issue for the United States?
DR. SIDDIQUI: The Asian longhorned beetle, as you saw in the clip, is a serious pest of all forest trees. If it was left unchecked it could damage to our forests to the tune of about $138 billion by destroying the trees, destroying tourism and all the normal damage and pollution it will cause to our resources here. This is why we have to have a strategy not only to eradicate the infestation it's spawned, but also prevent future deductions.
MS. LILY: Thank you. We will turn now to our guests in China to begin our discussion. We will go first to Beijing. Please begin.
Q: Hello, Dr. Siddiqui, I am -- (inaudible) -- China Daily. I want to ask you a question. Before you've made this announcement, have you made a consultation between -- (inaudible) -- You know it will cost a lot of money to the Chinese government. Do you plan to give some financial or technical support to the Chinese government to fight against it? (Off mike)?
MS. LILY: We are having some difficulties. Please repeat your question in Mandarin please.
Q: (Off mike) -- we are spending a lot of money in this area. Have you in the United States government decided that maybe you would help China and the officials here to try to deal with this longhorned beetle problem? Have you made any decisions on this in the United States government?
DR. SIDDIQUI: Yes, we have been discussing this issue with the Chinese agencies called CAPU (sp), Chinese quarantine agency, and -- for the last two years. And essentially we have been trying to impress upon them that this is a serious concern to our natural resources and agricultural resources, and essentially it has come to a point, in view of the recent discovery of the beetle in Illinois, it appears the current method is not working. So we are intensifying our efforts, both at this end in asking the Chinese government, especially the quarantine officials in China, to certify all the shipments, or treat those shipments of (wood-packing chill ?).
Q: I have a question. These new rules and regulations, would you say that it is some kind of a way to get back to China for you having a trade deficit with China? Is that some kind of a measure to do this?
DR. SIDDIQUI: Not at all. These new regulations are based on entirely sound science and are based on a real threat, a biological threat which is those shipments of wood material used as packing materials in shipments it poses to U.S. environmental resources.
Let me make a case in point here. If we want to intensify inspections only, we'll have to open all the sea containers coming from China, and you're talking about more than a million sea containers arriving every year at Long Beach in California, Seattle, Washington, as well as in North Carolina. We -- instead of doing that, we are asking the Chinese to work with us in terms of preventing the problem at origin, instead of inspecting every sea container here.
Our desire to work with the Chinese government and the shippers, we have also not made these regulations effectively immediately, but they will become effective 90 days after they are published. So you are talking about sometime in December these new entry rules will come into effect.
Q: (Off mike) -- in the United States, there are a lot of other countries that receive the same materials in the same packaging crates as the United States. In this situation, after the U.S. government makes these regulations, may other countries follow suit?
DR. SIDDIQUI: I cannot really speak for other countries, but I can tell you that the same beetle has been found associated with shipments coming from China to Australia, as well as we recently learned Canadian officials have also found the longhorned beetle in the shipments coming from China.
Q: Hi, how are you? I'm -- (inaudible) -- Chinese News Agency. The Chinese side exports commodities to the United States, and a lot of them are wrapped in this sort of packaging. And if you ask China in short term, unchanged, if you then, that they changed the way of doing it, in view of the problem, in the short term you need high technology and you need more time to do this. So given the short time, if the United States makes such and such and such demands on the Chinese side, of course this will affect Chinese-U.S. trade relations. Can you comment on this please? Thanks.
DR. SIDDIQUI: As I mentioned, we have a 90-day phase-in period. Number one, this allows the Chinese officials and the exporters to adopt these new regulations. We also believe it's in the long interests of the Chinese exporters to use either non-wood-packing fill or use wood that has been treated with a pesticide or those shipments which do not contain any wood-packing material -- all they have to do is certify that there is no wood-packing material in their shipment. So I think these are what I call user-friendly regulations in terms of resolving the problem at its origin, and also allowing us to process those shipments when they arrive at U.S. ports. Otherwise, if we wanted to really hold up the trade, we'll be inspecting every sea container that is unloaded at U.S. ports. So I believe, firmly believe, that this regulation once fully implemented would be in the best interests of China as well as the U.S. It protects the environment here as well as it keeps the trade flowing.
Q: I have another question I'd like to ask you here. In U.S. history, was there every a time when you discovered -- (inaudible) -- when in exports and imports you found something which hurt U.S. interests -- some sort of situation like this? And at the time, what measures did you take up to deal with it? Thank you.
DR. SIDDIQUI: One example I like to use, in the early 1990s the Asian gypsy moth, which is an insect pest that is native to Eastern Russia, and the mode of entry into the U.S. was those ships coming to U.S. ports in the West Coast. And the way we discovered this, we found infestations of Asian gypsy moth, both in the U.S. side -- in the Seattle, Washington area, Portland, Oregon -- these are two major port areas. And we traced back the problem to Soviet Far East -- Vladivostok and that area. And essentially what we did was we -- all the ships which were arriving -- we required them to be inspected.
Initially this inspection process was very expensive, time-consuming, and had to be done in the U.S. waters before the ships boarded the port area. But eventually we worked with the Russian government, and now the inspection and exclusion -- what I call prevention work -- is done at the Soviet ports. And this is an excellent example of international cooperation. By working with the Russians we have prevented those infestations coming in. We are spending close to $20 million a year in those early years. Now we are not finding any infestations of Asian gypsy moths in the U.S., because the problem is being resolved and addressed at the Soviet ports and not at the U.S. ports.
Q: I would like to ask about the new regulations. I would like to know if they are only for China and not for any other countries. If so, why don't you do this to Japan or other countries where we have heard that there are such -- (inaudible) --?
DR. SIDDIQUI: We have a two-phase strategy. One is to address the immediate problems. And right now all the indications are this problem is coming from shipments -- through shipments from China. So we are addressing that through an interim rule.
And I'll go to the second part of my answer after you translate it.
I want to assure our viewers that if this problem was coming from another country we would not hesitate a minute to take the same action. All the trace facts we have done, so far they have been associated with shipments of Chinese goods where they are using wood-packing material. And this is proof that this problem right now is associated only with shipments from China. But the issue of this wood-packing material and infestation of insects is a major concern. So the second part of our strategy is to go with a rule-making process where we will discuss this issue comprehensively, and this will involve discussions with other trade partners, as well as our neighbors to the south, Mexico, and our neighbors to the north, Canada.
Q: I have a question that has been already asked but hasn't been answered. What I want to know is the United States preparing and planning to provide financial assistance? Are you planning to give money to China to help them solve this problem, to help them make necessary adjustments and arrangements they need to make to adopt the new rule?
DR. SIDDIQUI: We are prepared to work with our Chinese partners in terms of trade where worldwide technical assistance. And Mr. Dunn, who is assistant secretary for agriculture, was in China last week, and he offered to work with both the Chinese quarantine officials as well as exporters in terms of providing technical assistance, and an outreach where we want to work the exporters. And essentially -- in terms of providing the technical assistance, we will be prepared to do that, but not financially.
Q: We have a question here for you, doctor, regarding the actual beetle. Why is it better to solve the problem in China and other countries versus solving the problem here in the United States?
DR. SIDDIQUI: You have to realize that if we were to inspect for this beetle, and you saw how big it is and what -- you have to open every container, sea containers. If you go to some port area in New Jersey or California, there are thousands and thousands of these sea containers coming in. In California, at Long Beach port alone, there are about more than half a million sea containers that arrive every year. If each shipment had to be opened, you are talking about delays for many, many months before those loads of cargo can be moved to inland areas.
So what you are talking about is delays and inspections. Number two, once you find beetles then there is a possibility some of those beetles can fly out of those shipments and establish infestations, more infestations in the U.S. This is a perfect example of having also for prevention, is get it -- (inaudible).
Q: I am a reporter from a morning newspaper. Right now the United States has a new policy that will be limiting China. And what's going to happen is the Chinese volume might be affected by all of this and the value. (Technical difficulties.) I'd like to ask you a question here. This new regulation that is about to be promulgated in the United States is directed at these wooden crates, wooden packing materials in China. And as for this new regulation, the restrictions, how much impact do you think it will have on the trade volume between the U.S. and China in numbers? What effect do you think it will have?
DR. SIDDIQUI: It's very difficult to actually put a dollar value. We know that the whole trade volume is about close to $80 billion, but not all the shipments coming in use wood-packing materials. So it could be anywhere -- 25 to 40 percent of those shipments have wood-packing material. So I'll say about 35 to 40 percent, that neighborhood. So you are talking about 60 or 65 percent of the trade is going to remain unaffected. But those shipments will have to have a certificate or a statement saying that those shipments do not contain any wood-packing material.
And those shipments where you do have wood-packing material, those wood-packing materials will have to be treated with pesticides or heat treated. And what essentially we are saying here is that if the wood used in those shipments palates and staking was used, treated material, that should not also impact any trade, because it will have a certificate saying the wood contained in the shipment has been treated with a pesticide which will kill the larvae and the adults of this longhorned beetle.
The U.S. -- we have every desire to work with them in resolving the problem where we can continue to trade unaffected, at the same time prevent this beetle coming into those shipments. So we are committed to work with the Chinese officials and exporters to find a solution which is a win-win solution for both sides.
Q: The U.S. side, looking at this, it seems that these things packed in wood are exported to the United States are going to be affected. I want to know what industries -- what areas might be affected? What I mean is which are the major ones that will bear the thrust of these new regulations? I would like to know about food and grain and that type of imports -- will there be an issue with these? Thank you.
DR. SIDDIQUI: These regulations will not affect bulk commodities which come in bulk, like agricultural commodities. We're talking about equipment or agricultural machinery or any parts, heavy parts which use wooden pallets. So we are talking about only that equipment or commodities where wooden boxes or pallets are being used in terms of moving heavy items.
And we have found in the 24 different locations in 14 different states shipments which had used this wood material -- holes, which you saw in this broadcast earlier. We found the beetles as well as live maggots inside that wood. So there is strong evidence that right now the wood being used in those shipments is not treated. And if it was treated we would not be finding those beetles.
MS. LILY: Sir, if this is causing such a problem here in the United States and in other places, what is it doing in Japan, the beetle, and in China?
DR. SIDDIQUI: In Japan and South Korea we have records of this beetle, but the problem in recent years has been China. The last record in Japan of this beetle was around the turn of the century. The point I'm making is in literature you can have of this record of this pest, as Japan and Korea also shows. But the problem right now is in China. And there is no indication of that problem in Japan and Korea.
Our entomologists who have been to China have found that there has been devastation of forests in China. As a matter of fact, recent floods in China, there people were saying the deforestation because of the insect, as all this cutting and logging of trees, was one of the reasons we had -- that China has so many devastating floods in recent years.
MS. LILY: Is there -- (inaudible) -- on this subject?
DR. SIDDIQUI: I want to assure our viewers here that the actions we are proposing, the interim rule, is really the most biologically effective solution. At the same time, it is the least trade-restrictive solution in accordance with the World Trade Organization rules, as well as our past quarantine policies. As I used the example of gypsy moths from Russia, this approach has worked in the past. And with the cooperation with China in this case of the Asian longhorned beetle, I firmly believe bilateral cooperation in dealing with this problem -- I am hopeful this approach will work in this case as well.
MS. LILY: Well, unfortunately we have run out of time for today's program, and I would like to thank all of our participants in Beijing and Dr. Siddiqui for joining us today -- and for taking the time to be with us. For Worldnet's "Dialogue," I'm Judlyn Lily, good day.
(end transcript)

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