Paperwork and routes
Export documentation for palletised freight
Most pallet-related delays are not treatment failures. They are mismatches between what the paperwork says and what is physically on the vehicle.
Scope of this page
The documents a palletised consignment usually travels with
- Commercial invoice. Describes the goods, their value and the parties. Where pallets are chargeable or are being sold, they appear here as a line; where they are packaging, they generally do not.
- Packing list. The document that matters most for pallets. It should state the number of pallets, their dimensions, gross and net weights, and how the goods are distributed across them. This is what the load is checked against.
- Transport document. A CMR note for road, a bill of lading for sea, an air waybill for air. Pallet counts and gross weights on these should agree with the packing list.
- Export declaration. Made by you or on your behalf. Packaging is described as part of the consignment rather than declared separately, unless the pallets are themselves the goods.
- Customer-specific documents. Certificates of origin, preference statements, inspection certificates and similar, according to the market and the contract.
Where the pallet appears — and where it does not
The pallet appears in the physical description of the consignment: number of packages, dimensions, gross weight. What it does not have, and what people ask for surprisingly often, is a document certifying it. There is no per-pallet compliance certificate in the ISPM15 system. The mark on the wood is the evidence, applied by the registered operator who treated it, and it travels on the pallet rather than in the envelope.
Documents we will not produce
Plant-health documentation is a separate track
Phytosanitary certificates relate to regulated plant products, and some wood commodities need them. Wood packaging in use as packaging is generally addressed through treatment and marking rather than through a certificate accompanying each movement. If you are exporting timber or pallets as a commodity, the plant-health documentation question becomes live and should be put to the plant health authority for the route in question.
Weights, dimensions and the things that cause delay
A pallet weighs something, and pallet weight is part of gross weight. Wet used pallets can be appreciably heavier than dry ones, which matters on air freight and on weight-limited road movements. Pallet height counts towards loaded height and container fill. If your declared figures were calculated from a nominal pallet weight and the actual pallets differ materially, the discrepancy shows up at the worst point in the journey.
- Count pallets and packages consistently across every document.
- State dimensions as loaded, including overhang if there is any.
- Keep gross weights based on the pallets you are actually using.
- Describe the packaging type in terms a checker will recognise on sight.
What to keep on file
Keep your own record of what you shipped on: supplier, pallet type, footprint, whether the pallets were marked, and photographs of the marks where treatment mattered. When a customer or an authority asks a question months later, contemporaneous photographs of the actual pallets are worth more than any retrospective letter.
Related guides
How to read an ISPM15 stamp
Every element of the mark explained, plus the practical signs that a mark should not be relied on.
Heat treatment and what HT means
What the treatment involves, and why kiln-dried timber is a different thing entirely.
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.
Tell us where it's going and we'll help you choose
Send your destination, pallet size, quantity and deadline, or upload photographs of the pallets and marks you already have. A person reads every enquiry.