ISPM 15

Solid wood packaging over 6 millimeters thick, including pallets, crates and dunnage, must be debarked and either heat treated to a core temperature of 56 degrees Celsius for at least 30 minutes, or fumigated or treated by another approved method, and marked with the IPPC stamp showing country, producer and treatment codes. Processed wood such as plywood is exempt. Importing countries enforce it at the border; in the US, CBP and USDA APHIS can order non-compliant wood packaging and its cargo re-exported.

ISPM 15 is a simple rule with expensive failures, because non-compliant pallets can get a whole shipment refused. Importers should require suppliers to use stamped pallets, and exporters shipping returns or transfers abroad need stamped pallets too. For example, a 3PL consolidating returns from a US warehouse onto old domestic pallets for shipment to a supplier in Mexico or the EU must switch to ISPM 15 stamped pallets or plastic pallets, or the receiving customs authority can order the load treated or sent back.

• PalletFlat platform for stacking goods
• Customs ExamCBP inspection of an import shipment
• Return to VendorRTVSending stock back to the supplier

• Lacey Act1900, amended 2008 · US ban on illegally sourced wildlife, plants and wood
• EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR)2023, applies from December 2026 · EU ban on products linked to deforestation

1. IPPC: ISPM 15 Regulation of wood packaging material in international trade ippc.int
2. USDA APHIS: Wood packaging material aphis.usda.gov