Scottish Exports of Timber to Ireland Suspended Due to Discovery of Bark Beetle

Scottish Forestry and Ireland’s Department of Agriculture have agreed to a precautionary pause preventing all conifer timber with bark on from being transported to Ireland from Scotland’s west coast Pest Free Area after Ips cembrae beetles (commonly known as the large larch bark beetle) were discovered in Passage West port in Cork.

At the time, roundwood logs from the west of Scotland were moving through the port.  It is thought that the beetles could have hitchhiked on this timber, although this has not yet been confirmed.

While the investigation continues, Scottish Forestry will not issue any phytosanitary certificates, although the Irish authorities have agreed to allow timber already in transit on boats to continue their passage.  As all Scottish log imports are inspected at Irish ports, any such consignments currently in transit will be subject to an inspection at the port prior to being cleared.  Any boats that have not left Scotland will not be allowed to dock in Ireland.

In a statement, James Nott, Head of Tree Health at Scottish Forestry, said:

“Scottish Forestry’s tree health team are in regular contact with their counterparts in Ireland over this finding. We have both agreed that a precautionary pause in the movement of timber is the right course of action whilst investigations progress. We need to carry out further tracing and surveillance then carefully consider next steps and take a judgement based on the evidence.”