Of all the ways a shipment gets stopped, non-compliant pallets are the most avoidable and among the most expensive. ISPM 15 is the international standard governing wood packaging material in trade, and it is enforced at the border with very little tolerance.
What the standard covers
Solid wood packaging used to carry, protect or support cargo: pallets, crates, boxes, dunnage, drums and blocking. It must be treated and marked.
Two treatments are recognised: heat treatment, marked HT, and methyl bromide fumigation, marked MB, which is restricted or prohibited in a growing number of countries. Dielectric heating is also recognised for certain material. Treated wood carries the IPPC mark: the wheat symbol, the country code, the producer or treatment provider code, and the treatment code.
What is exempt
Manufactured wood based materials that have been processed enough to eliminate the pest risk are outside the standard. That includes plywood, oriented strand board, particleboard, veneer and wood wool. Thin wood of six millimetres or less is also excluded. That is why plywood and pressed wood pallets are commonly used to sidestep the requirement entirely.
Paper, plastic and metal packaging are not affected.
The mark is what gets inspected
Inspectors look for the mark, not for a certificate. The stamp must be legible, permanent and on at least two opposite sides of the item. Common failures:
- Pallets repaired with untreated timber, which invalidates the original mark unless the repair is treated and re-marked
- Marks that are painted over, sanded, split across boards or applied with a stencil that does not match the registered format
- Dunnage and blocking inside the container that nobody thought about, because attention went to the pallets
- Bark present on the wood, which is not permitted under the standard
What happens when a shipment fails
Options at the border are limited and all of them cost money: re-export the entire consignment, treat and re-mark under supervision where the destination allows it, strip and re-palletise at the port, or destroy the packaging. Meanwhile the container accrues demurrage and the consignee waits.
Enforcement is not proportional to the value of the wood. A single untreated piece of dunnage can hold a full container.
Buying compliance instead of hoping for it
Specify ISPM 15 compliant packaging in your purchase orders, not in a conversation. Ask suppliers to photograph the marks before loading. Instruct your warehouse to reject inbound pallets without a legible mark, because a pallet that enters your stock unmarked will eventually leave on an export shipment. Where the destination is strict and volumes are small, plywood or pressed pallets remove the question entirely.
For consolidated cargo the risk compounds: one shipper's untreated pallet can hold the whole container, affecting everyone in the box. That is one more reason consolidators check pallets at receipt, as covered in LCL container shipping.
FAQ
What is ISPM 15?
An international phytosanitary standard requiring treatment and marking of solid wood packaging used in international trade.
Does it apply to plywood pallets?
No. Manufactured wood such as plywood, OSB and particleboard is exempt, as is wood six millimetres or thinner.
What does the IPPC stamp show?
The wheat symbol, the country code, the registered treatment provider code and the treatment method, HT or MB.
Is a fumigation certificate required?
The mark on the wood is the evidence. Some destinations request a phytosanitary certificate for the cargo itself, which is separate.
Can a repaired pallet keep its original mark?
Only if the repair uses treated material and the pallet is re-marked appropriately. Repairs with untreated timber void compliance.
Shipping on wooden pallets into strict markets? Ask us to check your packaging spec before the container is stuffed.