**FIRST EMAIL**/Federal Rules Regarding Crating and Pallets Used to Ship Robots acros

[Beth Sweet]

Greetings Teams:

There are new federal rules that apply to the crating and pallets used to ship robots across U.S. Borders to FRC Events. Please read the below information carefully.


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The following regulation applies to any team planning to ship its robot into the U.S. from another country, or from the U.S. to a Canadian event and back to the U.S.

Teams that do not comply risk having their robots detained at the U.S. border by U.S. Customs.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has adopted new international guidelines to decrease the potential for the introduction of certain plant pests that may accompany wood materials arriving from other countries. These guidelines call for wood packing materials used in the construction of crates and pallets to be either heat treated or fumigated with methyl bromide in accordance with applicable rules. These wood materials must be marked with an approved international mark certifying that treatment. The final rule became effective in September 2005, and affects all persons using wood packaging material in connection with importing goods into the United States.

The following exemptions apply to the above wood packing material rules:
Pieces of wood less than 6 mm/0.24 inches in any dimension
Loose wood packing material such as shavings, excelsior, etc.
Wood packing material originating in Canada and made in Canada (an importer’s statement may be required to document the origin of the wood packing material)
Processed wood packing materials that have received more than primary processing (e.g., plywood, corrugated board, fiberboard, veneer, whiskey and wine barrels, strand board, etc.)
FIRST recommends that all teams shipping across the U.S. border do the following:
Use only plywood or other exempted wood materials to construct their shipping crates
If using raw wood materials such as 2x4s, 1x boards, etc., they should be obtained from a lumber dealer who sells compliant wood products and must be marked with the approved international mark
Mount your crate on a non-wood or compliant wood pallet. Compliant and properly marked pallets are available from commercial pallet distributors.
Canadian teams should obtain an acceptable importer’s statement as indicated
Contact your local FedEx office for additional information and assistance. You can also find information at: http://fedex.com/us/promo/woodpackaging.html
Go Teams!