GB/T 23473-2024Code of practice for the transport quarantine of forest plants and their products (English PDF)

3 Terms and definitions

3.1 forest plant product: unprocessed material of forest plant origin, and products that have been processed but can still carry and spread pests.

3.2 inspection: the checking of forest plants and their products, or of other articles subject to quarantine, by a statutory specialised body, namely the forestry and grassland authority or its plant quarantine organisation, or by a body it has entrusted, following a set procedure and set methods, in order to establish whether pests subject to quarantine are present and whether the plant quarantine regulations are complied with. The forestry and grassland authority or its plant quarantine organisation is called the forestry and grassland plant quarantine organisation for short.

3.3 disinfestation treatment: measures that kill or remove the pests carried by forest plants and their products, or that leave them unable to live, such as treatment with chemicals, treatment by heat or by cold, microwave treatment and irradiation treatment.

3.4 transport quarantine: the process by which, during the movement of forest plants and their products, including consignment, posting, carriage by the owner and carriage by hand, the forestry and grassland plant quarantine organisation carries out quarantine inspection and disinfestation treatment on the forest plants and products subject to quarantine and issues the plant quarantine certificate, on the basis of the plant quarantine regulations.

3.5 epidemic situation: the distribution, hosts and damage of the forestry quarantine pests on the national list and of the supplementary forestry quarantine pests listed by a province, autonomous region or municipality.

4 Pests subject to quarantine

4.1 For movement between provinces, the pests subject to quarantine are the species on the national list of forestry quarantine pests issued by the forestry authority of the State Council, the species on the supplementary lists of forestry quarantine pests issued by the forestry authorities of the despatching and of the receiving province, autonomous region or municipality, and the dangerous forestry pests named in the letter of forest plant quarantine requirements issued by the receiving area.

4.2 For movement inside one province, the pests subject to quarantine are the species on the national list of forestry quarantine pests issued by the forestry authority of the State Council and the species on the supplementary list of forestry quarantine pests issued for that province, autonomous region or municipality by its own forestry authority.

5 Forest plants, forest plant products and other articles subject to quarantine

5.1 Tree seeds, seedlings, grass seeds and other propagating material.

5.2 Trees, shrubs, bamboos, flowers and other forest plants.

5.3 Timber, bamboo, medicinal material, fruit, bonsai, turf and other forest products.

5.4 Packaging material, conveyances, sites and warehouses that may be contaminated by pests subject to quarantine.

5.5 Nuts such as walnut and chestnut, wild precious flowers, and the other fruits, flowers and Chinese medicinal materials that the provincial people's government has placed under the quarantine of the plant quarantine organisation of the forestry department.

6 Transport quarantine procedure and filing of the parties

6 According to the direction of movement, transport quarantine is divided into outbound quarantine and inbound quarantine. Outbound quarantine takes in application, acceptance, examination and issue of the plant quarantine certificate. Inbound quarantine takes in issue of the letter of forest plant quarantine requirements, checking of the plant quarantine certificate, re-inspection and supplementary inspection. The flow of outbound quarantine follows Annex A.

7 The forestry and grassland plant quarantine organisation shall make the filing and registration requirement publicly known. The units and individuals concerned shall file with the local forestry and grassland plant quarantine organisation before they produce, trade or move the goods, filling in the filing and registration form of Annex B.

8 Outbound quarantine

8.1 Before tree seeds, seedlings and other propagating material are moved, and before forest plants and products subject to quarantine are moved out of a county-level administrative area where an epidemic is present, the unit or individual moving them shall apply for quarantine to the forestry and grassland plant quarantine organisation of the place of despatch, submitting the application form for forest plant quarantine of Annex C together with the supporting material. The applicant is answerable for the truth of the substance of that material.

8.2 Where the application material is complete and in the legal form, the quarantine organisation shall accept the application; where it is incomplete or not in the legal form, the organisation shall tell the applicant at one time all the material that has to be supplied, and shall accept the application once all of it has been submitted. For movement between provinces, the organisation that accepts the application shall also look up, on the national information platform for the management of and service to forestry and grassland plant quarantine, the letter of forest plant quarantine requirements issued by the quarantine organisation of the receiving area in the form of Annex D.

8.3.1 In the documentary examination the quarantine organisation examines the certificate of conformity of quarantine at the place of origin, the certificate of entry inspection and quarantine, the original plant quarantine certificate and other quarantine evidence. Where valid quarantine evidence exists and there is no risk of re-infestation by pests subject to quarantine, or where the local epidemic records confirm that no pest subject to quarantine has occurred, the plant quarantine certificate is issued or reissued as 8.4.3 and 8.4.4 provide. Where there is no valid quarantine evidence, or the evidence is within its period of validity but a risk of re-infestation exists, or the local epidemic records do not allow it to be confirmed that no pest subject to quarantine has occurred, field inspection shall be carried out.

8.3.2 In the field inspection the quarantine organisation checks the name, quantity and means of transport of the forest plants and products being moved against the application form. Where they do not agree, the quarantine procedure is stopped and the applicant is notified in writing; if the movement is still to go ahead, a fresh application form has to be filled in. Where they agree, sampling inspection continues. The forest plants and products are sampled and inspected, and the packaging material, filling material, storage site, conveyance and dunnage are checked for pests subject to quarantine or for signs of their damage. The sampling amounts and methods of the field inspection follow Annex E, the inspection and detection methods are given in Annex F, and the survey information is entered in the survey form of Annex G. Where a pest found in the field inspection cannot be identified, the sample taken is brought back with the suspect pest for laboratory examination and identification, and the sampling voucher of Annex H is filled in and given to the applicant.

8.3.3 In the laboratory detection, where a national or trade standard exists for the method of examining a pest subject to quarantine, that standard is followed; where none exists, a suitable method from Annex F is used. A pest that the local quarantine organisation cannot identify shall be sent to the relevant experts or to a qualified identification body.

8.3.4 Where a pest subject to quarantine is found during inspection, the quarantine organisation issues to the applicant the notice of quarantine treatment of Annex I, stating the disinfestation required, and supervises and guides the applicant in treating the forest plants and products and the infested packaging material, filling material, storage site and conveyance, after which they are inspected again. Where no effective disinfestation method exists at present, or the treatment fails, the applicant is notified in writing to stop the movement and is ordered to change the use of the goods, to restrict their use or to destroy them on the spot.

8.4 The plant quarantine certificate is issued where the inspection has found no pest subject to quarantine, and where a pest was found but the goods passed a second inspection after disinfestation. It is issued directly where the local epidemic records confirm that no pest subject to quarantine has occurred. A new certificate is issued in place of an earlier document in three cases: on a certificate of conformity of quarantine at the place of origin that is still valid; on a valid plant quarantine certificate, where the same consignment is moved a second time between provinces or moved after a change of conveyance in transit and has been stored for not more than one month, except that quarantine shall be carried out and the certificate issued only after the goods pass, where the epidemic situation at the transit place is serious and infestation is possible; and on the original entry quarantine documents, where goods imported from abroad are moved out again after being stored for not more than one month, except that quarantine shall likewise be carried out where the epidemic situation at the storage place is serious and infestation is possible, even within the month. The certificate is issued through the national information platform and signed by a forest plant quarantine officer. Its period of validity shall not be more than twice the one-way transport time and shall not exceed 30 days.

9 Inbound quarantine and archive management

9.1 Where forest plants and products subject to quarantine are moved between provinces, the quarantine organisation of the receiving area issues the letter of forest plant quarantine requirements through the national information platform.

9.2.1 For goods subject to quarantine that arrive, the quarantine organisation of the receiving area checks the plant quarantine certificate. Where a valid certificate exists but the goods are suspected of carrying a pest subject to quarantine, re-inspection may be carried out. Supplementary inspection shall be carried out where a certificate exists but the goods do not agree with it, or the place of arrival does not agree with it, or the certificate has passed its period of validity; where the certificate is a forgery; and where there is no certificate.

9.2.2 For goods subject to quarantine that pass through, the forest plant quarantine checkpoint, or a checkpoint that has quarantine checking duties, checks the plant quarantine certificate and notifies the local quarantine organisation in good time so that supplementary inspection is carried out where the goods do not agree with the certificate, or the certificate has passed its period of validity, or the certificate is a forgery, or there is no certificate.

9.3 Re-inspection follows 8.3.2 and 8.3.3 for the field inspection and the laboratory detection, and is recorded in the re-inspection record form of Annex J. Where a pest subject to quarantine is found, it is dealt with as 8.3.4 provides and the provincial quarantine organisation of the place of despatch is informed in good time. Where the consignee or the delivery address given by the applicant turns out to be false, the quarantine organisation of the receiving area may inform the quarantine organisation of the place of despatch.

9.4 Supplementary inspection also follows 8.3.2 and 8.3.3. Where a pest subject to quarantine is found, it is dealt with as 8.3.4 provides; where none is found, the plant quarantine certificate is issued in replacement.

10 The material of the application, the acceptance, the examination and the issue of the certificate shall be kept safely and filed in the order in which the applications were accepted. Plant quarantine certificates are kept for not less than ten years and the data on the national information platform for at least five years.

E Annex E (normative) Sampling amounts and methods for field inspection

E.1 A batch means forest plants or products from the same area, of the same date, carried by the same conveyance and of the same name. Seeds, grass seeds, fruits, whether dried or fresh, and turf are sampled from the total number or the total number of packages of a batch at a rate of 0.5% to 5%. Seedlings, including test-tube seedlings, root tubers, stem tubers, bulbs, corms, rootstocks, cuttings, scions, flowers and other propagating material are sampled from the total number of packages of a batch at 1% to 5%. Crude medicinal material is sampled from the total number of packages at 0.5% to 5%. Logs, sawn timber, bamboo, rattan and their products, including semi-finished products, are sampled from the total number or the total volume of a batch at 0.5% to 10%. Loose seeds, fruits, seedlings including test-tube seedlings, root tubers, stem tubers, bulbs, corms and crude medicinal material are sampled from the total quantity of a batch at 0.5% to 5%; where there is less than 1 kg of seeds, fruits or crude medicinal material, or fewer than 20 plants of seedlings, root tubers, stem tubers, bulbs, corms, rootstocks, cuttings or scions, all of them are examined. Other forest plants and products may be handled by analogy with the classes above, and the minimum number examined shall be not fewer than five packages, all of them being examined where there are fewer than five. Where the goods are suspected of carrying a pest subject to quarantine, the sampling amount is increased and shall be not below the upper limit of the rates set out above.

E.2 Seeds, grass seeds, fruits, seedlings including test-tube seedlings, root tubers, stem tubers, bulbs, corms, flowers and Chinese medicinal materials are sampled at the rate laid down, layer by layer from the goods for which quarantine has been applied for, until the required number of samples has been taken. Logs, sawn timber, bamboo, rattan and turf are sampled at the rate laid down, from the surface of the stack or layer by layer.

F Annex F (informative) Inspection and detection methods

F.1 In the field, seeds and fruits are poured into a prepared container and the outside of the seed or fruit is examined with the naked eye or a hand lens for signs of damage; abnormal seeds and fruits are picked out and may be cut open on white paper so that the flesh and the stone are examined, or the material is passed through sieves of different sizes to sift out insect bodies, eggs, damaged grains and sclerotia, for a first identification. Seedlings, including test-tube seedlings, together with rootstocks, cuttings, scions, root tubers, stem tubers, bulbs and corms, may be placed on a white cloth or plastic sheet of 100 cm by 100 cm and examined plant by plant, the roots, stem, leaves, buds and flowers being looked over in detail for deformation, discoloration, cankers, dieback, galls, bore holes, boring dust and insect frass. Branches and trunks, logs, sawn timber, bamboo, rattan and their products are examined on the outside and in the cracks for cankers, tumours, resin flow, discoloration, insect bodies, egg masses, bore holes, frass and boring dust. Turf is examined at the leaf blade, the leaf sheath, the roots and in the soil for symptoms of damage such as spots, insect bodies, bore holes and frass, or for traces of pest activity. Chinese medicinal materials, fruit and wild or cultivated fungi are examined on the surface with the naked eye or a hand lens, or cut open and examined inside, for symptoms such as spots, bore holes and frass.

F.2.1 In the laboratory, insects mixed among seeds are examined with a rotary sieve; insects hidden inside seeds may be looked for by cutting the grains open, by specific gravity, by staining, by soft X-ray transmission or by chemical staining. Insects hidden in the leaves or in the trunk or stem are looked for by cutting open the damaged or suspect part with a knife, a saw or another tool, care being taken to keep the insect body whole. Identification is made with the help of a dissecting microscope, a compound microscope and other instruments, by comparison with named insect specimens, illustrations and other references. Larvae, and material suspected of holding eggs or larvae, are reared to the adult for identification, or identified by observing the characters of each stage together with the biology of the insect. Some insects may also be identified by immunological and by molecular biological methods.

F.2.2 For pathogenic fungi, a quantity of diseased tissue is collected and the surface examined with a hand lens for fruiting bodies; plant tissue bearing fruiting bodies is cut freehand or in paraffin section and the morphology of the pathogen is observed under the microscope for identification to species; the diseased tissue is isolated and cultured by the tissue or the spore method; the isolate is inoculated onto a healthy host, the pathogen is established from the symptoms that develop, and the species is identified from the morphology of the mycelium, the colony and the spores; molecular biological methods may also be used. For pathogenic bacteria, a quantity of diseased tissue is collected and examined for bacterial ooze on the surface and, under the microscope, at the boundary between diseased and healthy tissue; the pathogen is isolated from the diseased tissue by the dilution method and a pure culture is obtained on a medium; the pure culture is inoculated onto a healthy host and the symptoms are observed; the pathogen is isolated again from the inoculated diseased tissue and compared morphologically with the original isolate; the species is identified from the shape and size of the bacterium, its physiological and biochemical characters and its pathogenicity; molecular biological and serological methods may also be used. For nematodes, fresh diseased tissue, organs or rhizosphere soil are collected, the nematodes are separated by the Baermann funnel or the shallow dish method, and the slide bearing the nematodes is passed back and forth through the flame of a spirit lamp for 5 s to 6 s to kill them, after which they are identified morphologically under the microscope or by molecular biological methods. For viruses, the symptoms are observed to establish whether the disease is a virus disease; a quantity of diseased tissue is collected, sectioned and examined under the electron microscope for the morphology of the virus particles; diseased samples are inoculated onto healthy plants by mechanical inoculation, the development of disease is observed and compared with the symptoms of the originally diseased plants, and the virus is identified to species.

F.2.3 For harmful plants, fresh plants are collected and identified to species from the morphology of the leaves, the stem, the inflorescence and the fruit; molecular biological methods may also be used.