Export guide

ISPM15 explained for UK exporters

The rule that decides whether your pallet clears the border or costs you a re-pack. Here is what it covers, what the stamp means and how to stay on the right side of it.

Palletised export freight stacked on a South Coast container port quayside

What ISPM15 is

ISPM15 is the international phytosanitary standard for wood packaging material used in trade between countries. Its purpose is to stop timber packaging carrying pests such as bark beetles and wood-boring larvae into new ecosystems. It applies to the packaging, not the goods inside it. What your consignment needs depends on where it is going, including movements from Great Britain to the EU and Northern Ireland, and the rules change — check the current position on GOV.UK: wood packaging goods for import and export.

What is in scope

pallets, skids and skid bases made from solid timber
crates, cases and boxes made from solid timber
dunnage, bracing, blocks and bearers used to secure a load
cable drums and timber frames

Packaging made entirely from processed wood is generally outside scope, because the manufacturing process itself destroys pests. That covers plywood, OSB, MDF, particleboard and moulded presswood pallets. So do plastic pallets, which contain no wood at all. The exemption only holds while the packaging is made entirely from processed wood: a plywood case on a solid timber skid, or secured with solid timber battens or bracing, still has to comply where the destination requires it.

How treatment works

The common route in the UK is heat treatment, written as HT. The timber is heated until the core of the wood reaches the required temperature and holds it for the required time, which kills pests through the section of the wood rather than only on the surface. Kiln drying to a moisture specification is a different process and does not itself demonstrate compliance: only certified treatment under an approved scheme, together with the mark, does that.

What the mark tells you

Treated packaging carries a stamp containing the IPPC wheat-ear symbol, a country code, the registration number of the producer who treated or manufactured it, and the treatment code — HT for heat treatment. The mark should be legible, permanent and visible on at least two opposite sides of the pallet or case.

Two practical points: an unmarked pallet is a non-compliant pallet regardless of how it was made, and repaired or remanufactured wood packaging generally has to be re-treated and re-marked in line with official guidance rather than carrying its original mark.

What goes wrong

bracing and dunnage inside a container gets overlooked while the pallet itself is compliant
a compliant load is stacked on an untreated pallet at the last minute
marks are painted over, sanded off or facing inwards and cannot be inspected
a pallet is repaired with untreated boards, invalidating the original marking

The consequences range from inspection delays to fumigation, re-packing at destination, return of the consignment or refusal of entry — all at the exporter's cost, and all avoidable.

Practical steps for South Coast exporters

order treated stock as standard rather than deciding per shipment
keep export pallets physically separated from general yard stock
brief the loading team to check marks before a container is stuffed
treat bracing and blocking as part of the compliance job, not an afterthought
for repeat shipments, agree a schedule so treated pallets are on site before the box arrives

We supply heat-treated, marked pallets, crates, cases and skid bases to exporters shipping through Southampton, Portsmouth and Poole. See export and heat-treated pallets or tell us your destination and loading date and we will confirm the specification.