Why is fumigation required for imported and exported goods? What is the fumigation process?

I. Which Exported Goods Require Fumigation?
According to relevant national regulations, if the packaging of exported goods uses natural wood materials, and the destination country is the EU, USA, Canada, Japan, Australia, etc., the packaging usually needs to bear the IPPC mark. Fumigation treatment is especially essential when the wood packaging is made of coniferous wood.
Wood packaging refers to all types of wooden materials used for packaging, padding, supporting, and reinforcing goods, such as wooden boxes, crates, pallets, dunnage, barrels, blocks, sleepers, liners, shafts, and wedges.
Most wood packaging requires the IPPC mark, but there are some exceptions. For example, wooden boxes or pallets made entirely of engineered wood products such as plywood, particleboard, or fiberboard, which have undergone special processing during production and meet pest control standards, do not require fumigation or the IPPC mark. Similarly, packaging made entirely of thin boards (including shavings and sawdust) less than 6mm thick, or wood packaging that has undergone special treatment during production, such as wine barrels or wooden gift boxes, also does not require the IPPC mark.
Except for the above cases, any wood packaging containing solid wood components must undergo pest control treatment and bear the standard IPPC mark.
Fumigation methods mainly include chemical fumigation and heat treatment. Chemical fumigation typically uses agents such as methyl bromide or ethylene oxide. It is important to note that any packaging made of solid wood must be fumigated and bear the IPPC mark. While wood packaging has advantages such as high strength, good resilience, and recyclability, making it a common carrier for goods in international trade, it is also a major vector for the cross-border spread of harmful forest pests. Many harmful pests, such as pine nematodes, longhorn beetles, termites, bark beetles, wasps, beetles, and weevils, can travel long distances via wood packaging, causing serious damage to the forest resources and ecological environment of importing countries. To prevent harmful pests and diseases from damaging domestic forests through imported and exported goods, many countries have implemented relevant policies, requiring that wood packaging used for export goods undergo pest control treatment before shipment; fumigation is one of the most common methods of pest control.