How to read an ISPM15 stamp

The four elements

1. The IPPC symbol

The mark carries the symbol of the International Plant Protection Convention, shown to the left of the coded information and separated from it by a vertical line. The symbol is not decorative: it is the part that tells a plant-health inspector anywhere in the world that what follows is a treatment mark rather than a manufacturer’s brand.

2. The country code

Two letters identify the country whose plant protection organisation authorised the operator — GB for Great Britain, for example, or a two-letter code for the country of treatment where the pallet was produced elsewhere. The country code tells you where the treatment was authorised. It does not tell you where the timber was grown or where the pallet has been since.

3. The registration number

A unique number identifying the producer or treatment provider responsible for applying the mark. This is the accountability element: the number traces back to a registered business that can be checked by the authority that registered it. It identifies a producer, not a consignment, so the same number appears on every pallet that operator marks.

4. The treatment code

A short code for the measure applied. HT denotes heat treatment. DH denotes dielectric heating. MB denotes methyl bromide fumigation, which is restricted or unavailable in many territories and is increasingly uncommon in practice. A mark showing a treatment your destination does not accept is a problem even though the mark itself is genuine, which is one of the reasons the code is worth reading rather than glancing at.

Where debarked wood is relevant to the destination, a DB indication may also appear alongside the treatment code.

Where the mark should be

Marks are generally applied so they are visible on at least two opposing sides of the pallet, legible, permanent and not in red or orange. The reason for the two-sided convention is purely practical: an inspector needs to be able to see a mark without unstacking a load. A single mark on one face, or a mark on a top deck board hidden by goods, causes avoidable delay even when treatment genuinely happened.

Signs a mark should not be relied on

• Illegibility. Sanded, painted, soaked, scuffed or partly missing marks cannot be read, and a mark that cannot be read cannot do its job. This is the most common issue by a wide margin and it has nothing to do with dishonesty.
• Missing elements. A stamp with the coded information but no IPPC symbol, or with a treatment code but no registration number, is not a complete ISPM15 mark.
• Inconsistency across the pallet. Two different registration numbers on one pallet usually points to repair with components from elsewhere rather than to forgery, but either way it needs looking at.
• Marks on obviously untreated or unsuitable components. A fresh, damp, bark-covered replacement board under a crisp mark is a mismatch worth questioning.
• Ink applied by hand or by a stencil that varies between pallets. Marks are meant to be applied consistently by the registered operator. Variation within a batch is a reason to ask where the pallets came from.
• A “certificate” offered in place of a mark. Where a marked pallet is required, paperwork does not substitute for the mark on the wood.

What the mark cannot tell you

It does not carry a treatment date, and treatment does not expire — so a mark gives you no information about the pallet’s age or how it has been handled. It says nothing about load rating, moisture content or cleanliness. And it has no bearing on EU packaging law: see PPWR in practice for why those are separate questions.