Knowledge centre
The rules that govern wooden export pallets
Two separate bodies of rules sit behind a palletised export: plant-health measures covering the treatment of solid wood packaging, and packaging law in the destination market. These guides take them one at a time.
How to use these pages
ISPM15 and treatment
How to read an ISPM15 stamp
Every element of the mark explained, plus the practical signs that a mark should not be relied on.
Read the guide
Heat treatment and what HT means
What the treatment involves, and why kiln-dried timber is a different thing entirely.
Read the guide
When ISPM15 applies — and when it does not
Which goods, materials and destinations bring the standard into play. An expensive thing to get wrong in either direction.
Read the guide
Paperwork and routes
Export documentation for palletised freight
The paperwork that travels with a palletised consignment, and where the pallet itself appears in it.
Read the guide
GB to the EU, and Northern Ireland separately
Why a movement into the EU and a movement into Northern Ireland are two different questions.
Read the guide
Packaging law, reuse and repair
PPWR in practice
What the EU packaging regulation actually asks of packaging, the dates that matter, and where reuse sits.
Read the guide
Repaired and remanufactured pallets
Where repair stops and remanufacture begins, and when a pallet has to be treated and marked again.
Read the guide
Can used pallets be used for export?
The honest answer, the conditions attached, and why the real obstacle is usually evidence rather than law.
Read the guide
The two pillar pages
If you are starting from scratch, read the ISPM15 guide and the PPWR and wooden pallets guide first. The pages above go deeper into individual questions that come out of them.
Read the rules, now specify the pallet
Tell us the destination, the load and the quantity and we will come back on the pallet side. If you already have pallets, send photographs of the marks and we will tell you what we can see.