Although difficult to be sure, members thought they are cerambycid larvae.

The detection of a pest with pallets is one of the reasons why countries should apply the International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures No. 15 – Guidelines for regulating wood packiging material in trade. This standard was developed because of the regularity of detection of pests in wood from the Far East and, nowadays, it is common to see pallets in trade with the distinctive marking.

The standard is at:

https://www.ippc.int/servlet/CDSServlet?status=ND0xMzM5OSY2PWVuJjMzPSomMzc9a29z

There are a number of acceptable treatments that can be applied to the timber for compliance.

All types of untreated timber are pathways for pest introductions, and it is only within the last few years with the import of arthropods to the US from the Far East that the issue has been given international prominence, by most countries. Australia has always seen timber in all forms as a threat. Early cargo containers (1960-70s) had steel frames with walls of 15 ply timber and wooden planked floors. To permit delivery direct to premises all the timber had to be treated with a permanent insecticidal glueline application and the containers number was registered by Plant Quarantine on a database. Without this undertaking the ‘unregistered’ containers were not permitted to leave the wharf. Modern containers are mainly steel, but most still have wooden floors, and this must be treated before direct delivery is allowed. Note that the container manifacturers realised that those containers whose floors were treated lasted longer than untreated wood, so adopted the standard as an economic benefit.

The main threat to the US was posed by wooden cable drums where the innermost timbers on the spline could not be inspected visually.