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What is ISPM 15? |
| A: |
ISPM 15, is an acronym for (I)nternational (S)tandards for (P)hytosanitary (M)easures #15. It was created by the International Plant Protection Convention, a part of the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization. The standard covers the need to have all wood packaging made of softwood or hardwood species treated and the placing of a special mark to certify it. The treatment of the packaging could be either via heat treatment (HT) or fumigation. The treatment could be for each individual piece or the completed packaging. |
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| Q: |
Why is ISPM 15 required? |
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Untreated lumber poses a risk of carrying harmful plant pests. This standard was developed to reduce the risk of transferring those pests. America and Canada have a microscopic pest, called the Pinewood Nematode, that is hazardous to the trees of other continents. China has the Asian Longhorn Beetle that is hazardous to native trees in the United States and Canada. Every locale likely carries some pest that could be dangerous to local plants in a different region. ISPM 15 attempts to limit or reduce the chances of such pests harming native flora and fauna. Since wood packaging (boxes, pallets, crates, dunnage, etc) are typically made from the lowest grade of lumber, the instances of pests is often higher due to the presence of bark. |
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| Q: |
What happens when wood packaging does not comply and it is shipped anyway? |
| A: |
Each country is different. Some countries will fumigate the package (contents and all) and charge the shipper at a premium rate. Some will just deny the shipment. There have even been cases of the shipment being incinerated or buried in a landfill. Still others may re-export only the packaging and charge a premium rate for replacing the non-compliant material. |
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| Q: |
Can I just buy ISPM 15 certified wood and build my pallet/box/crate of that? |
| A: |
ISPM 15 certification is a quality control program specifically for solid wood packaging material, it does not apply to raw lumber. As a quality control program, the IPPC certification mark is often licensed to registered wood packaging producers. These registered facilities apply the IPPC mark to the finished pallets, crates, boxes, etc. While it may be possible to build a pallet/box/crate from lumber that has the original HT mark visible on each piece, this is not often practical. The IPPC mark certifies the entire wood packaging item and not just one piece. Its important to think of the custom's official too. Being forced to look at every board in a wood packaging item would be a time consuming process and overly cumbersome. |
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| Q: |
How do I show that the wood packaging I produce is ISPM 15 compliant? |
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The IPPC mark below is applied to the wood packaging. This mark is commonly applied as an ink stamp, stencil or brand. The IPPC mark is applied to a minimum of two opposite sides and certifies that all solid wood has met the heat treatment requirement. |
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Mark for manufactured packaging |
Mark for individual pieces of dunnage |
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| Q: |
I have IPPC marked wood packaging from another manufacturer, can I repair it/reuse it, or build on to it? |
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You can reuse certified wood packaging so long as you do not repair it by removing and replacing any existing components. Should you need to repair it, it will need to be retreated. Re-treatment can be done by either a certified kiln facility or certified fumigator. However, you are permitted to build on to existing wood packaging that has already been certified, assuming the existing portion of the container is not altered. An example of this scenerio would be building a frame using HT lumber on top of an already certified pallet. In this case the manufacturer would place their IPPC stamp only on the frame that they added to the pallet. |
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| Q: |
The country I am shipping to requires all wood to be bark-free, what does this mean? |
| A: |
Bark-free wood is defined as wood from which all bark excluding the vascular cambium, ingrown bark around knots, and bark pockets between rings of annual growth has been removed. [ISPM No. 15, 2002] Based on this definition bark found in the wane area would not be acceptable and would need to be removed prior to shipment. A list of countries that currently require wood packaging to be bark-free can be found in the ISPM 15 country list. |
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| Q: |
Can I use a phytosanitary certificate to certify my product as ISPM 15 compliant? |
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The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) will not issue phytosanitary certificates for wood packaging...when wood packaging is not the commodity. The reason is that there are already certification procedures in place which require application of the IPPC mark to show compliance to ISPM 15. |
Wood Packaging 
