WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT?

There has been increasing concern in recent years about the spread of pests, such as the Asian longhorn beetle and the Pine Wood Nematode, since wood packaging material made of unprocessed raw wood provides a pathway for the introduction and spread of such pests.

In order to protect worldwide stocks of trees and forests, the International Plant Protection Committee (IPPC) has taken regulatory action to control the global movement of wooden packaging in the form of ISPM15. The forestry Commission are the UK's representative on the IPPC.

WILL IT AFFECT ME?

If you export wooden packaging that contains sawn timber, such as New or Second-hand Pallets, Boxes, Crates, Cable Drums etc, outside the EU you will be affected by these new regulations.

Packaging that is made solely from manufactured board like Plywood, OSB, Chipboard etc is excempt

HOW CAN I COMPLY?

The approved measures that have been adopted are as follows:-

Heat treatment of wood packaging, which requires heating of the timber to a minimum core temperature of 50°C for a minimum of 30 minutes (HT)

or

Fumigation, using Methyl Bromide (MB) to the relevant specification.

In order to join the scheme, manufacturers need to demonstrate that they meet the requirements to a third party assessor. Registered manufacturer are authorised to use the ISPM15 mark, which includes the country of origin and a unique manufacturer's registeration number. A sample is shown below.