Packaging law, reuse and repair
Repaired and remanufactured pallets
Repair is where most genuine ISPM15 problems begin. A pallet with a sound mark and a replacement board of unknown origin looks compliant and may not be.
Why repair is the difficult case
A mark says that the wood packaging it is applied to was treated. Replace part of that packaging and the statement becomes partly untrue unless the replacement component was itself treated. The mark, meanwhile, is still there, still legible, and still reassuring everyone who looks at it. That gap between appearance and substance is what makes repaired pallets worth a page of their own.
Repair and remanufacture are not the same thing
- Repair is the replacement of a limited proportion of a pallet’s components — a cracked deck board, a broken block — leaving the original pallet substantially intact.
- Remanufacture is the dismantling and rebuilding of wood packaging, or reconstruction using components from more than one source, such that what leaves the bench is effectively a different pallet.
The standard treats these differently, and the thresholds and the correct handling of marks are set out in it. In broad terms: remanufactured wood packaging should have earlier marks removed or obliterated and, where it is to carry a mark, be treated and marked afresh by a registered operator. Repaired packaging needs the treatment status of the replacement components to be right, and needs the mark it carries to remain an honest statement about the packaging as a whole. Where you need the exact thresholds, take them from the standard rather than from any supplier’s paraphrase.
Old marks must not be left to mislead
Signs a pallet has been repaired
- Boards of noticeably different colour, weathering or moisture content.
- New nails or staples in a pattern inconsistent with the rest of the pallet.
- Two different registration numbers, or marks in two different styles.
- A crisp mark on a visibly older pallet, or a very new component under an old mark.
- Plated or sistered repairs to blocks and bearers.
None of these is evidence of wrongdoing. Repair is a normal, useful part of keeping pallets in service, and a well-repaired pallet correctly treated and marked is a good outcome for everyone. The point is to know what you are looking at.
Structural consequences, separately from compliance
A repaired pallet can be fully compliant and still be the wrong pallet for your load. Repairs change stiffness and load paths, particularly where a bottom board or a block has been replaced. For long sea transits, stacked loads or automated handling at the far end, it is worth deciding whether repaired stock is appropriate on engineering grounds regardless of marking.
If you already have the pallets
Buying repaired stock sensibly
- Ask who repaired the pallets and whether replacement components were treated.
- Ask whether the pallets were repaired or remanufactured, and whose mark they now carry.
- Inspect a sample rather than a photograph chosen by the seller.
- Decide, separately, whether repaired stock suits the load, the transit and the handling.
- Photograph what you receive, so you have a record of the marks that were on the pallets you used.
If the answers to the first two questions are vague, that is useful information in itself. See reconditioned export pallets for how we handle this commercially.
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.