Inspection of wooden packaging in the Viracopos airport

Abstract

The objective of this research was to evaluate the impacts of changes of the inspection standards for the regulated wood packaging material (MEMR) of the airport of Viracopos, which were introduced by the Normative Instruction IN 32/2015 that replaced the IN 04/2004. The risk analysis of the introduction of pests is a relevant topic, since the increase of trade and the consequent movement of cargo, in ports and airports, favor the new species entry in the country and put commercial forests at risk. To mitigate this risk, the federal government acts in the inspection of packaging and wooden supports, in accordance with the international standards of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC). The statistical analysis of the census data for the years from 2014 to 2016 showed that the risk of introducing live pests is low, less than 1%, while the highest rates of rejection of wooden packaging are related to the indirect risk of pest introduction because of the nonconformity to the phytosanitary treatment markings in the packaging. It was also found that 1% of the companies (50 out of 5,000) is responsible for most of the cargo handling in the customs area of Viracopos. Still, the IN 32/20215 imposed higher costs to importing agents, when determining the return of noncompliant packaging.