EXPORT PACKAGING - ISPM STANDARDS

COMPRESSED WOOD PACKAGING AND INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT PACKAGING REGULATIONS (ISPM-15)

Why are pressed wood pallets and crates ideal export packaging?

Very strict regulations, known as ISPM-15, apply to packaging used for export shipments. These regulations apply to the wood material used for standard wooden transport packaging. In particular, they exclude packaging made from pressed wood, due to its resistance to any pesticides.

What are the ISPM-15 regulations for?

Wood, regardless of its origin, can contain pests. In the production of wood packaging, there is often a problem of insufficient protection of wood against the spread of pests. Phytosanitary standards are widely used by all countries to reduce the risk of the spread of quarantine organisms associated with packaging wood.

What the ISPM 15 regulations say about the use of wood as a packaging material?

“Wood from living or dead trees can be infested with pest organisms. Packaging material is often made from raw wood that has not been treated or treated to remove or kill such organisms, and is therefore a pathway for their transmission and spread.

As has been shown, dunnage poses a particularly high risk of infestation and spread of harmful organisms. In addition, packaging wood is very often reused, repaired or reconditioned (as described in section 4.3). It is difficult to establish the true place of origin of each piece of wood packaging and therefore assessing its phytosanitary status is not straightforward.

Consequently, it is often not possible to carry out the normal agrophage risk assessment procedure to determine whether measures are necessary and what they should be. Therefore, this standard describes internationally accepted measures that can be applied to packaging wood by all countries to significantly reduce the risk of importation and spread of most quarantine organisms associated with this material.”

– quoted from ISPM-15 (2009)

Which timber packaging is covered by the provisions of ISPM-15?

Phytosanitary regulations apply to all wood packaging that may be present in an imported consignment, including consignments that are not subject to routine phytosanitary inspection.

Wood packaging material covered by ISPM-15 regulations.

“These guidelines apply to wood packaging material in any form that can provide a transmission pathway for pest organisms that pose a risk primarily to living trees. They cover wooden packaging material such as crates, boxes, cages, dunnage, pallets, drums and cable reels that may be present in almost any imported consignment, including consignments that do not undergo routine phytosanitary inspection.”

Which timber materials do these provisions NOT apply to?

The provisions of ISPM 15 do not apply to the following cases:

– Wooden packaging material made entirely of thin wood (6 mm or less thick);

– wooden packaging material made entirely of recycled wood,
such as plywood, OSB board or veneer, using adhesive, high
temperature or pressure or a combination of these measures;

– barrels for wine or spirits products subjected to high temperatures during production;

– decorative wrappings for wine, cigars and other objects made of wood treated and/or processed to eliminate organisms
harmful;

– sawdust, shavings and wood wool

– wooden components permanently attached to transport vehicles and containers.

All types of Bospal packaging, including pallets, 2-piece crates and 6-piece crates, are exempt from the phytosanitary treatment associated with ISPM-15 requirements.