The importance of carbon dioxide fumigation to control insect pests of timber, a common packing material in freight containers, was assessed. The cerambycid <i>Hylotrupes bajulus</i>, the lyctid <i>Lyctus brunneus</i> and the siricid <i>Sirex noctilio</i> were tolerant of atmospheres of carbon dioxide in air. Both <i>H. bajulus</i> and *L. Brunneus*1 survived exposure to 100% carbon dioxide for 7 days. Complete mortality of <i>Cryptotermes domesticus</i> and <i>C. queenslandis</i> occurred at all exposures (30, 60 and 80%) except 60% carbon dioxide in air for 3 days at which 17% of the worker caste was able to survive. A single culture of the anobiid <i>Stegobium paniceum* 1 was killed upon exposure to 30% carbon dioxide in air for 10 days. These results suggest that fumigation treatments employing carbon dioxide, which are suggested for the control of stored products pests infesting commodities in freight containers, would be unlikely to kill all insects which might infest timbers used for packing. -- AATA