rule on importation of wooden handicrafts from china in june 2009 china expressed gratitude to the united states for a bilateral meeting regarding the new notification that all wooden handicrafts would have to be subject to heat treatment and fumigation. china requested that the requirement be limited only to those products for which there was an identified risk and that the measure comply with article 5.6 of the sps agreement. the united states recalled that between 2002 and 2005 during routine inspections at us ports of entry significant pests were found 418 times including in artificial christmas trees wooden home products and wood handicraft items despite certification by china. the united states continued to allow wood products from china subject to a new bark-removal condition. upon completion of the risk assessment in 2008 the united states shared its findings with china and initiated several bilateral technical meetings to explain its position to ensure that all interested stakeholders were well informed. the new rule for importation was circulated to all members on 27 april 2009 and the comment period closed on 8 june 2009. the united states thanked members for providing comments and assured that these would be reviewed before a final determination on the matter. in october 2009 china reiterated concerns regarding us regulations on wooden handicrafts from china. the draft regulation broadened the scope of regulated products to all wooden handicrafts from china which had to be subjected to fumigation or heat treatment and accompanied by a plant quarantine certificate. risks however were only associated with wooden handicrafts with bark with diameter over one centimetre. the us heat treatment requirement went far beyond the ippc standard. china requested that the united states base its measures on the relevant international standards in particular ispm 32 and to eliminate the certificate requirement for low risk wooden handicrafts in the final measure. the united states stated that in april 2009 the usda proposed to allow the importation of wooden handicrafts from china under certain conditions. the proposal would allow trade to resume in a broad range of chinese-origin wooden handicrafts while continuing to protect the united states against the introduction of plant pests such as wood boring beetles. the united states had taken measures in response to finding pests on wood handicraft products including artificial christmas trees trellis towers other home and garden wood decor and wood handicraft items. pests were found on 418 different occasions between 2002 and 2005. the intercepted pests were closely related to the asian longhorned beetle which had previously been introduced into the united states in shipments of wood packing material from china. the comment period on the proposed rule had closed on 8 june 2009 and all comments would be considered prior to making determination to issue a final rule. the ippc stated that ispm 15 concerned wood packaging material and that in 2008 the commission on phytosanitary measures cpm had recognized that handicrafts were also an issue. the topic wood products and handicrafts made from raw wood had been included on the ippc work programme. a specialized technical panel would draft a specification for this new standard in 2010. in march 2010 china reiterated concerns regarding us restrictions on wooden handicrafts from china g sps n usa 1921 . the notified draft regulation would apply to all wooden handicrafts from china although the risks which had triggered the import ban were only associated with wooden handicrafts with a diameter over one centimetre. china hoped that the united states would limit the scope of the measure to products presenting real risks. according to the draft regulation all wooden handicrafts from china would be subject to fumigation or heat treatment and require plant quarantine certificates which would unnecessarily raise costs for the chinese handicraft industr