The processing of the specified wood, as referred to in Article 1, must fulfil all of the following requirements:

1. (a)

   Debarking

   The specified wood is debarked, with the exception of any number of visually separate and clearly distinct small pieces of bark which comply with one of the following requirements:

   1. (1)

      they are less than 3 cm in width (regardless of length) or

   2. (2)

      if they are greater than 3 cm in width, the total surface area of each individual piece of bark is less than 50 cm².

2. (b)

   Sawing

   The specified sawn wood is produced from debarked round wood.

3. (c)

   Heat treatment

   The specified wood is heated through its profile to at least 71 °C for 1 200 minutes in a heat chamber approved by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), or an agency approved by APHIS.

4. (d)

   Drying

   The specified wood is dried following industrial drying schedules of at least two-week duration, recognised by APHIS.

   The final moisture content of the wood shall not exceed 10 % expressed as a percentage of dry matter.

The specified wood must be produced, handled or stored in a facility which fulfils all the following requirements:

1. (a)

   it is officially approved by APHIS, or an agency approved by APHIS, pursuant to its certification programme concerning the pest Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire;

2. (b)

   it is registered in a database published on the APHIS website;

3. (c)

   it is audited by APHIS, or an agency approved by APHIS, at least once per month and it has been concluded that it complies with the requirements of this Annex. In the case these audits are performed by an agency approved by APHIS, APHIS must carry out six-monthly audits of this work. The six-monthly audits shall include the verification of the procedures and documentation of the agency and audits at approved facilities;

4. (d)

   it uses equipment for the treatment of the specified wood which has been calibrated consistently with the equipment’s manual of operation;

5. (e)

   it keeps records of its procedures for verification by APHIS or an agency approved by APHIS, including the duration of treatment, temperatures during treatment and, for each specific bundle to be exported, the compliance check and final moisture content.

Each bundle of the specified wood must visibly display both a unique bundle number and a label with the words ‘HT-KD’ or ‘Heat Treated-Kiln Dried’. That label must be issued by, or under the supervision of, a designated officer of the approved facility after verifying that the processing requirements set out in point 1 and the requirements for facilities set out in point 2 have been complied with.

The specified wood destined for the Union must be inspected before export by APHIS, or an agency approved by APHIS, to ensure that the requirements laid down in points 1 and 3 are met.