epalrecycling.comEuro pallet reference for the US and Canada

Producer or treatment provider registration number

The registration number in an ISPM 15 mark identifies the producer or heat-treatment provider registered with that country's plant protection organisation. ISPM 15 lets each NPPO set the number and order of digits and letters, so formats differ by country; EPAL calls it the registration number of the responsible plant protection authority.

Document
MRK-005
Sheet
Markings, ISPM 15
Last reviewed
Sources
2 cited
Code assigned by the national plant protection organisation; digits and letters in an order the NPPO setsFormat
ISPM 15Scheme

Where it is

[EPAL mark][EPAL mark]IPPCXX-000HT000-0-00Centre block: treatment mark, licence and stapleOuter blockOuter block
Schematic long side. The highlighted part is the producer or treatment provider registration number. The EPAL trademark is shown only as a labelled placeholder.

After the country code and hyphen, before the treatment code.

What it proves

Which registered producer or treatment provider is responsible for the treatment and mark.

In detail

ISPM 15 describes this as a unique code that the NPPO assigns to the producer, to the treatment provider who applies the mark, or to whoever is responsible to the NPPO for using properly treated wood. Because each country sets its own format, there is no single pattern to validate against. Some countries mix letters and digits, others use plain numbers. Our stamp decoder separates the part before the treatment code and labels it, but it does not claim to check it against a register.

EPAL's product pages number this element 5 and describe it as the registration number of the responsible plant protection authority. If a phytosanitary inspector finds pests in a pallet, this code is how the treatment provider is traced, which is why ISPM 15 asks NPPOs to supervise or audit whoever applies it.

If you need to confirm a registration, the issuing country's NPPO is the only authority that can do it.

Common misreadings

  • The EPAL licence number (licence–year–month) is a different number on a different part of the pallet.
  • Region letters inside the registration are part of the code, not a second country code.

Pallets that carry it

Sources

Last reviewed . Figures come from these publications; follow the links for the current versions.

  1. ISPM 15, Regulation of wood packaging material in international trade (adopted 2018, published 2019), IPPC Secretariat / FAO
  2. EPAL Euro pallet (EPAL 1), load-carrier page, European Pallet Association e.V.

What do you need to do with them?

Pick one. Each form takes about a minute and goes to one partner, not a list of dealers.

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