What it covers
ISPM 15 applies to wood packaging made from raw wood that may carry pests of living trees: crates, boxes, packing cases, dunnage, pallets, cable drums and spools. Several items are exempt because they are low risk, including packaging made wholly of plywood, particle board, oriented strand board or veneer, wood 6 mm thick or less, heated wine and spirit barrels, sawdust and shavings, and wood permanently attached to freight vehicles and containers.
The four approved treatments
| Code | Treatment | Requirement in Annex 1 |
|---|---|---|
| HT | Heat treatment in a steam or dry kiln chamber | At least 56 °C throughout the wood, core included, for 30 continuous minutes |
| DH | Dielectric heating (microwave, radio frequency) | At least 60 °C throughout the wood, surface included, for 1 continuous minute |
| MB | Methyl bromide fumigation | Minimum concentration-time product over 24 h: 650, 800 or 900 g·h/m³ depending on temperature; not for wood over 20 cm across |
| SF | Sulphuryl fluoride fumigation | 1,400 g·h/m³ over 24 h at 30 °C or above, or 3,000 g·h/m³ over 48 h at 20 °C or above; wood at least 20 °C |
Whatever the treatment, the wood must be debarked. Small pieces of bark may remain if each is under 3 cm wide, or wider but under 50 cm² in area.
The mark
Annex 2 requires four components: the IPPC symbol on the left, the ISO two-letter country code, a hyphen, the producer or treatment provider code assigned by the national plant protection organisation, and the treatment code on its own line or after a hyphen. The mark sits inside a rectangular or square border with a vertical line between symbol and codes. It must be legible without a visual aid, durable, not hand drawn, and visible in use, preferably on two opposite sides. Red and orange should be avoided. Nothing else may sit inside the border.
Repaired and remanufactured pallets
A pallet that has had up to about one third of its components replaced counts as repaired. Replacement wood must itself be treated and each added part individually marked, or the NPPO may require old marks to be obliterated and the whole unit re-treated and re-marked. A pallet with more than about one third replaced counts as remanufactured and must have old marks obliterated, be re-treated and be marked anew. A treated pallet that has not been altered never needs re-treatment for the rest of its service life.
What it means for euro pallets
EPAL made ISPM 15 heat treatment compulsory for all new EPAL pallets from 1 January 2010 and says the mark sits on both central blocks of the long sides. EPAL also prohibits methyl bromide on EPAL pallets, which is stricter than ISPM 15 itself.
At the border
Where wood packaging lacks the mark, or pests show the treatment failed, the importing country's NPPO may detain it, remove it, treat it, destroy it or send it back. ISPM 15 lists incineration, deep burial, approved processing and return to the exporting country as secure disposal methods. It also asks countries to accept older pallets that carry a mark consistent with earlier versions of the standard.