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Biosecurity pages side by side: what each agency lists for tools, chips and wood, pest by pest

What the official pages for kauri dieback, shot-hole borer, ramorum, oak processionary moth, ash dieback and five other tree pests list on cleaning tools and boots, handling chips and arisings, and moving wood, with the source for each row.

Checked against the sources at the bottom of this page on October 8, 2026. Rules, fees and pay change: the source has the last word.

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. Each cell below restates what one agency page lists. It is not an instruction from this site, and a blank cell reads "Page lists none" when the page read has nothing on that point. The page date is the one the agency shows; where the agency shows none, the row says so. For the report lines that go with each pest see the pages for the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.

By pest

Pest, place and sourceWhat the page lists
Kauri dieback, New Zealand
Source: Tiakina Kauri, rules summary. No date shown.
Tools, boots, vehicles and machinery: Rule 8 of the National Plan: anyone going off track, or onto a track where they will touch the forest floor, cleans all visible soil and organic matter off items that may touch the ground, before entering and when leaving. The items named are tools, cars, bikes, sticks, shoes and gloves.
Chips and waste: Page lists none.
Wood and plants: Earthworks within a kauri hygiene zone, three times the radius of the canopy dripline, need an earthworks risk management plan from August 2, 2023 (Rule 5). Kauri plants grown from August 2, 2022 to be moved off a property need a plant production plan (Rule 3).
Shot-hole borer, Western Australia
Source: Western Australia DPIRD. Updated November 12, 2025.
Tools, boots, vehicles and machinery: Tools that touch infested wood, including chainsaws and woodchippers, are sanitised before use on uninfested trees, and 70% ethanol is the preferred disinfectant. Machinery used to handle wood or plant material is cleaned before it moves outside the zone.
Chips and waste: Green waste goes to a local government waste facility in a fully sealed and covered skip bin, trailer or truck. The page also lists wood mulch from a reputable supplier.
Wood and plants: Untreated or unseasoned wood does not leave the Management Zone or the Quarantine Area unless chipped to pieces 2.5 cm or less in diameter. Plant material over 2 cm in diameter does not leave either.
Ramorum, United Kingdom
Source: Forest Research, ramorum disease. No date shown.
Tools, boots, vehicles and machinery: The page says spores spread on footwear, dogs' paws, tools, equipment and vehicle wheels. For visitors it lists brushing soil, mud and leaf debris off footwear and wheels before leaving, and parking on hard-standing. It says extra biosecurity requirements apply to people who work in woods, including tree surgeons, and points to a manual.
Chips and waste: Page lists none.
Wood and plants: Any movement in the UK of phytophthora-affected wood needs a movement licence from the forestry authority, including from a sawmill or other processing site.
Ramorum, United States
Source: USDA APHIS, Phytophthora ramorum. February 7, 2026.
Tools, boots, vehicles and machinery: The page lists disinfesting pruning and other gardening tools between plants. The page gives no method.
Chips and waste: Page lists none.
Wood and plants: The page lists not moving plants that appear sick or dying. The page links regulated areas and regulated articles documents.
Oak processionary moth, United Kingdom
Source: Forest Research, oak processionary moth, and Forest Research biosecurity page. No date shown.
Tools, boots, vehicles and machinery: Page lists none.
Chips and waste: Spent nests can hold large numbers of irritating hairs and are not touched. Where owners choose nest removal, the page says trained, equipped operators in protective clothing remove nests by vacuum or by hand and bag them for disposal and incineration.
Wood and plants: England has management zones with movement restrictions on large oak trees, named on the biosecurity page.
Ash dieback, United Kingdom
Source: Forest Research, ash dieback. No date shown.
Tools, boots, vehicles and machinery: Visitors are asked to park on hard-standing where possible. For tree surgeons and other workers the page points to the ash dieback manual.
Chips and waste: Gardeners and site managers can slow local spread by collecting fallen ash leaves and burning them where permitted, burying them or deep composting them.
Wood and plants: Importation and inland movement of ash seeds, plants and planting material is prohibited. The page calls movement of logs or unsawn wood a low-risk pathway.
Notifiable pests in general, United Kingdom
Source: GOV.UK, Forestry Commission and Animal and Plant Health Agency. Last updated January 20, 2026.
Tools, boots, vehicles and machinery: All equipment, including boots, clothing, ropes and saws, is free of soil and organic material before entering and leaving a site. Ropes are cleaned to the maker's guidance or kept for particular sites. Saws and cutting tools are cleaned and disinfected as routine and before use on a new site. Vehicle cabs, wheels and footwells are cleared of build-up, with off-site wash-down facilities.
Chips and waste: Infected or infested material removed for safety is kept separate from other arisings and not used for mulch or firewood. It goes to a licensed handling facility, or to deep burial or incineration on site.
Wood and plants: A movement licence is obtained if required.
Emerald ash borer, Canada
Source: Canadian Food Inspection Agency, regulated areas and items. Modified August 12, 2026.
Tools, boots, vehicles and machinery: Vehicles carrying regulated articles are cleaned of debris before loading at the origin and before leaving the receiving facility. The page says treatment may include sweeping or power washing.
Chips and waste: Ash wood chips and bark chips are listed as regulated articles. Yard waste leaving a regulated area is prohibited, because it may hold ash bark, branches or trimmings.
Wood and plants: Regulated items leaving a regulated area carry a Movement Certificate issued by the agency. Ash firewood may not leave a regulated area.
Emerald ash borer, United States
Source: USDA APHIS, emerald ash borer. April 23, 2026.
Tools, boots, vehicles and machinery: Page lists none.
Chips and waste: Page lists none.
Wood and plants: The page lists buying only local firewood or certified heat-treated firewood.
Asian longhorned beetle, United States
Source: USDA APHIS, Asian longhorned beetle. October 5, 2026.
Tools, boots, vehicles and machinery: Page lists none.
Chips and waste: Nursery stock found infested must be chipped according to the beetle regulations. Infested trees are destroyed by removal followed by incineration or chipping.
Wood and plants: Regulated articles include firewood from all hardwood species and host material half an inch or more in diameter, such as logs, green lumber, stumps, roots and branches. Landscapers, tree companies, firewood dealers and nurseries need a compliance agreement or permit to move them out of a quarantine area.
Spotted lanternfly, United States
Source: USDA APHIS, spotted lanternfly. August 26, 2025.
Tools, boots, vehicles and machinery: The page lists checking doors, sides, bumpers, wheel wells, grills and roofs before leaving a parking lot or work site, keeping windows closed when parked, and parking 15 feet from trees in a quarantine zone where possible.
Chips and waste: Page lists none.
Wood and plants: Businesses moving items inspect shipping containers, propane tanks and pallets stored outdoors before they are moved.
Spongy moth, United States
Source: USDA APHIS, spongy moth. September 17, 2026.
Tools, boots, vehicles and machinery: The page lists scraping egg masses off tools with a putty knife, stiff brush or similar hand tool, then put in hot soapy water or sealed in a plastic bag left in the sun.
Chips and waste: Page lists none. The page does not mention chips. It links a regulated articles document and sends questions to the State plant regulatory official.
Wood and plants: Vehicles and trailers are listed as regulated articles. Before leaving an infested area, the page says to check for egg masses. The page lists buying firewood locally and burning it on site.
Oak wilt, Canada
Source: Canadian Food Inspection Agency, oak wilt. Modified January 11, 2024.
Tools, boots, vehicles and machinery: Page lists none.
Chips and waste: Page lists none.
Wood and plants: The page lists not pruning oak trees between April and November and not moving firewood. Where the agency issues a Notice of Prohibition of Movement, any movement or activity involving the specified materials is authorized in advance by the agency.

Reading the table

Each row comes from one agency's page, so rows are not like for like. A quarantine rule, such as the Western Australia size limits for wood, binds people inside a named area. A line such as Rule 8 for kauri is a national rule, and the rules summary sets out infringement fees for it. The wording of each source page decides whether a line is a rule or guidance, so each row names its source. Pests with no row here, Dutch elm disease and Xylella among them, are left out because no biosecurity line on tools, chips or wood was read on an agency page for them. For chipper and grinder equipment in general see chippers and stump grinders, and for firewood rules see moving wood and firewood.

Sources