susceptible wood originating in the demarcated areas in the form of newly produced packing cases, boxes with exception of boxes entirely composed of wood of 6 mm of thickness or less, crates, drums and similar packings, pallets, box pallets and other load boards, pallet collars, dunnage, spacers and bearers, including that which has not kept its natural round surface, shall be subject to one of the approved treatments as specified in Annex I to the FAO International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures No 15 on Guidelines for regulating wood packaging material in international trade and marked according to Annex II to the said Standard’.

susceptible wood in the form of dunnage, spacers and bearers, including that which has not kept its natural round surface, as well as in the form of packing cases, boxes with exception of boxes entirely composed of wood of 6 mm of thickness or less, crates, drums and similar packings, pallets, box pallets and other load boards, pallet collars, whether or not actually in use in the transport of objects of all kinds, that wood shall not be allowed to leave the demarcated area; the responsible official body may grant an exception from this prohibition where that wood has been subject to one of the approved treatments as specified in Annex ...[+++]I to the FAO International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures No 15 on Guidelines for regulating wood packaging material in international trade and marked according to Annex II to the said Standard’.

The FAO International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures No 15 on Guidelines for regulating wood packaging material in international trade (2) contains phytosanitary measures in respect of movement of wood packaging material in the form of packing cases, crates, drums, pallets, load boards, pallet collars and dunnage, aiming at reducing the risk of introduction and/or spread of quarantine pests associated with wood packaging material, made of coniferous and non-coniferous raw wood, in use in international trade.

The agreement may therefore create barriers to entry and give rise to potential anti-competitive foreclosure effects on packaging suppliers, new entrants and importers – all of whom were not involved in the standard-setting process – as they may need to repackage the product to meet the de facto standard in order to sell in the Member State if the pack size used in other Member States does not meet the standard.

(3) When packaging is manufactured for a specific product in accordance with a harmonised standard whose references have been published in the Official Journal of the European Communities, the packaging is presumed to comply with the essential requirements of Directive 94/62/EC, as covered by that harmonised standard.

This Directive has two objectives: on the one hand, it aims to prevent and reduce the environmental impact of packaging and packaging waste; and on the other hand, it aims to ensure the smooth functioning of the internal market through a common framework for imposing environmental controls on packaging.