Friday, December 09, 2005

Have Yourself An Artificial Christmas

Faithful ISW readers may remember last year's posts (1, 2) about longhorn beetles (Callidiellum spp.) found in the trunks of artificial Christmas trees imported into the US from China. Assuming they were all properly recalled, the crisis seems to have been averted this year - turns out the US banned the import of wooden craft items from China starting this past April. The article notes that the ban "...will remain in place until Chinese exporters adopt other measures to ensure that no live insects remain in the wood." APHIS has published a FAQ about the ban. Though it appears to have been intended as temporary, there are no signs indicating that it will be lifted anytime soon. You can still find fake Christmas trees with real wood trunks for sale this season, but I am not sure where they are manufactured.

Tip of the virtual hat to dbpitt for inspiring this post.

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