Introduction

Both internationally and in Australia there is an active discussion by policy and decision-makers regarding the future regulation and availability of CCA as a timber preservative. This debate, according to the CSIRO, has arisen because of concerns ‘principally about CCA's arsenic content’ and have resulted in restrictions to CCA use in the US, European Union, Canada and Japan, as well as reconsideration in New Zealand. CCA-treated wood has been banned altogether in several countries including Denmark, Switzerland, Vietnam and Indonesia (CSIRO, 2003b; Hauserman, 2001).

Indeed, Australia is one of the last major CCA-producing countries to take an official position on the availability and use of CCA-treated timber. In advance of its final report the APVMA has sent official letters to timber treatment companies requiring variations to CCA container labels. However the APVMA position is weak compared with some other countries.