ISPM 15 basics for export crates and pallets: treatment, debarking and the mark

Strapping components are not made of wood, but the crates, pallets and battens they hold together usually are. When those wooden items cross a border, they fall under ISPM 15, the International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures on wood packaging. A load that is perfectly strapped can still be held at the destination if the timber underneath does not comply. For export packers and the buyers who supply them, it pays to know what the standard asks for and where the strapping step can undermine it.

This guide reflects the position in October 2018. The reference text is the standard itself, published by the IPPC; the English edition issued in May 2017 carries the requirements as revised up to 2013, and its annexes were revised again in April 2018. National plant protection organisations apply it, and some add their own conditions, so the destination country’s rules always need checking.

What ISPM 15 covers, and what it leaves out

The standard concerns wood packaging made from raw wood that moves in international trade, including dunnage used to wedge or support cargo. It aims to reduce the risk of quarantine pests travelling in that wood.

Two groups of material are outside it:

• wood packaging made entirely of thin wood, 6 mm thick or less
• packaging made wholly of processed wood material such as plywood, particle board, oriented strand board or veneer, created using glue, heat or pressure, or a combination of them

Within the EU, the requirement has long been written into plant health law. Commission Directive 2004/102/EC required wood packaging from third countries, other than Switzerland, to be made from debarked round wood, treated by an approved measure from Annex I of the standard and marked, with member states applying the rules from 1 March 2005.

Treatment and debarking

ISPM 15 lists approved treatments in its Annex 1, each with its own code in the mark. Heat treatment, code HT, is one of them. Its basic requirement is a minimum temperature of 56 °C for at least 30 continuous minutes throughout the entire profile of the wood, including its core.

The standard also includes methyl bromide fumigation (MB) and dielectric heating (DH). In April 2018 the thirteenth session of the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures, meeting in Rome from 16 to 20 April, took up a draft revision of Annexes 1 and 2 that added sulphuryl fluoride fumigation (code SF) and revised the dielectric heating section. Australia had lodged the one objection to this draft, and the IPPC Secretariat’s note recorded that Australia saw it as a useful technical clarification rather than a critical issue; Australia withdrew it on 28 March 2018. The IPPC reported on 20 April 2018 that the session had adopted the revised annexes, presenting sulphuryl fluoride as an alternative to methyl bromide. In practice, a crate buyer only needs to know which code the supplier uses and that the supplier is authorised for it.

Debarking is required regardless of treatment. The annex text tolerates small, visually separate pieces of bark if they are less than 3 cm wide, whatever their length, or, if wider than 3 cm, if each piece has a total surface area of less than 50 cm².

Mark element	What it tells the inspector
IPPC symbol	The item is presented as ISPM 15 compliant
Country code	The two-letter ISO code of the country concerned
Producer or treatment provider code	Who is accountable for the treatment and marking
Treatment code (HT, MB, DH or the new SF)	Which approved treatment was applied

Reading and placing the mark

Correct ISPM 15 marking for export crates and pallets starts with the mark itself. The standard requires it to be legible, durable and not transferable, and placed where it is visible when the packaging is in use, preferably on at least two opposite sides. It must not be hand-drawn, and red and orange should be avoided because those colours are used for dangerous goods labelling.

Those requirements meet the strapping step in a very practical way. A strap, a corner protector, a shipping label or a stretch-wrapped layer can cover the only mark an inspector can see. Agree with the packing team where marks sit on each crate type and where straps and labels go, so that at least one mark stays visible on each of two opposite sides.

Additions made at the packing site

The weak point is often timber added after the crate leaves its maker. Spacer battens under slabs, blocks wedged against machinery, a replacement board nailed on after damage: each is wood packaging within the scope of the standard and has to meet its treatment and marking requirements. If the packing site keeps loose timber for these jobs, buy it treated and marked, and keep it separate from untreated offcuts. The standard also contains separate provisions for reused, repaired and remanufactured wood packaging. A repair, for example, may use only wood treated under the standard or processed wood, and each added treated component must carry its own mark. Ask the crate supplier how it handles these cases rather than improvising a repair on the dock.

Questions for the crate or pallet supplier

• Which treatment does it apply, and under which national authorisation?
• Where on each crate or pallet type are the marks placed?
• How are repaired or remanufactured units treated and marked?
• Can it supply treated and marked loose battens and blocks for the packing site?
• Does any destination on your route add requirements beyond the standard?
• What records accompany each delivery of treated packaging?

Where strapping fits

ISPM 15 says nothing about the strap itself. It does make the strap route matter: plan it so marks stay visible, protect the edges where needed, and keep the combination of strap, closure and tool the same as the one approved for the crate. YAKU’s range covers the strap and closures rather than the timber: woven strap, galvanized wire buckles and steel strapping seals. Send the crate type, strap reference and tool through the enquiry page.