ISPM15: when you need it and what the marking means

ISPM15 is an international standard requiring wood packaging (pallets, crates, dunnage) to be treated so that the core of the wood reaches at least 56 °C for at least 30 minutes, and to carry the IPPC mark. Its purpose is to stop wood pests spreading between countries.

When ISPM15 is required

ISPM15 is mandatory when wood packaging goes to a country that applies the standard. There are more than a hundred, for example the USA, Canada, Mexico, China, Japan, Australia, India and the United Kingdom.

Within the European Union ISPM15 is generally not required. The same packaging may later travel on outside the EU, however, so many exporters choose ISPM15 for all their pallets.

The requirement applies to all wood packaging, including packaging that is only part of the shipment: a pallet carrying a machine, wedges and spacers.

What the mark means

Part of the mark	Meaning
IPPC logo (wheat ear)	Symbol of the International Plant Protection Convention
EE	Country code: Estonia
Producer number	The marker's registration in the national register
HT	Heat treatment

The mark must be legible, permanent and applied on at least two opposite sides. On Aurelia pallets the mark is on the blocks.

What is outside ISPM15

• Processed wood materials: plywood, OSB, particleboard and pressed chipwood blocks.
• Wood thinner than 6 mm.
• Sawdust, shavings and wood wool.

A pallet with pressed chipwood blocks needs the ISPM15 mark only if its boards are solid wood (which is usually the case).

What happens if the mark is missing

At the border of the destination country the shipment may be held and the packaging treated, destroyed or returned, at the sender's expense. The delay can cost more than all the packaging.

How to order

In the configurator step “Treatment and extras” choose “ISPM15 heat treatment (HT)” and state the destination country in your quote request. We use heat-treated timber and mark finished products with the ISPM15 stamp.