GB to the EU, and Northern Ireland separately

Great Britain to the EU

Solid wood packaging moving from Great Britain into the EU has generally been required to meet ISPM15 treatment and marking requirements since the end of the transition period, and it is subject to checking on arrival. In practical terms that means the pallets, cases, crates and dunnage under and around your goods need to be treated and marked, and the marks need to be findable without dismantling the load.

Alongside that sits a question of an entirely different kind: EU packaging law. Customers in the EU increasingly ask suppliers about the packaging they receive, and those questions arise under the packaging regulation rather than under plant-health rules. An ISPM15 mark does not answer them. See PPWR in practice and the exporting to the European Union page.

Northern Ireland is a different movement

Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom, and movements of goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland operate under arrangements that have changed more than once since 2021 and differ from movements to an EU member state. Schemes exist covering movements of goods within the UK internal market, and the position depends on the goods, the trader’s registration status and the current published rules.

Because of that, we do not publish a settled statement of what wood packaging must do on a GB to NI movement. What we will say is this: do not assume the EU answer applies, and do not assume the domestic answer applies either. Check the current GOV.UK collection for moving goods to Northern Ireland, and confirm the position for your trader status and your commodity before you build the load.

Movements into the Republic of Ireland

The Republic of Ireland is an EU member state, so a GB to Ireland movement is a movement into the EU — and it stays one whether the freight goes direct or by a different route. That catches people out, because Ireland feels close and familiar. See the Republic of Ireland page for the routing point in more detail.

Practical checklist before an EU-bound load

1. Confirm every wooden component in the load is treated and marked, dunnage included.
2. Check the marks are legible and positioned so they can be seen without unstacking.
3. Check whether your customer has asked packaging questions that are not about treatment, and answer those separately.
4. Make sure pallet counts, dimensions and gross weights on the paperwork match the loaded vehicle.
5. Photograph the marks before the doors close.