Knowledge centre
ISPM15 pallets explained
ISPM15 is a plant-health standard for wood packaging in international trade. It exists to stop timber pests travelling with freight. This page explains what the standard covers, how to read the mark, and where it stops.
One sentence version
What ISPM15 actually is
ISPM15 is an International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures, published under the International Plant Protection Convention. It sets out approved treatment measures for wood packaging material — pallets, cases, crates, dunnage — and a distinctive mark applied by operators registered and authorised by their national plant protection organisation.
The reason it exists is straightforward. Untreated softwood carries larvae, beetles and fungal pests. Moving raw wood packaging around the world moves those pests into ecosystems that have no defence against them. Treatment kills them; the mark is the visible evidence that treatment was carried out by someone accountable for it.
Reading the mark
The mark carries the IPPC symbol together with a country code, a unique registration number for the producer or treatment provider, and a treatment code — for example HT for heat treatment or MB for methyl bromide, which is now heavily restricted in many territories. Marks generally appear on at least two opposing sides of the pallet.
- The mark is the evidence. Where a treated and marked pallet is required, an invoice, an email or a printed “certificate” from a supplier does not substitute for it.
- Legibility matters practically. A mark that has been sanded, painted over, soaked or worn away is difficult to rely on, whatever its history.
- The mark identifies a producer, not a shipment. It tells you who treated the wood, not who owns the pallet or what is on it.
Heat treatment is not kiln drying
What generally falls in and out of scope
The standard is aimed at solid wood packaging. Certain manufactured wood-based materials — plywood, oriented strand board, and similar processed products — are treated differently because the manufacturing process itself involves heat, glue and pressure. Whether a particular pallet benefits from that depends on how it is built, including whether its blocks and bearers are solid wood. Plastic and metal pallets fall outside the standard entirely.
Because construction varies, the sensible approach is to confirm the position for the pallet you are actually shipping rather than reason from the general category.
Repairs, reuse and remarking
Treatment does not have an expiry date. An ISPM15-marked pallet can be reused, and the practical questions are whether the mark remains legible, whether the pallet is structurally sound, and what happened to it in the meantime. Repair is where care is needed: if components have been replaced, the treatment status of those components and the correct handling of the existing mark both become relevant. Rules exist for how repaired and remanufactured wood packaging should be treated and marked, and getting this wrong is one of the more common causes of problems at the border.
Great Britain to the EU
Since the end of the transition period, solid wood packaging moving from Great Britain into the EU has generally been required to meet ISPM15 treatment and marking requirements, and is subject to checking on arrival. Movements involving Northern Ireland can follow different arrangements. The route, the commodity and the current published requirements all matter, so check the authoritative guidance for your shipment rather than relying on what was true a few years ago.
Where ISPM15 stops
Empty pallets exported as goods
There is an important distinction between a pallet carrying goods and a consignment of pallets that are themselves the goods. The first is wood packaging. The second may be classified as a timber product, with a different set of requirements attached. If you are selling pallets abroad rather than shipping goods on them, say so at the outset — it changes the conversation.
ISPM15 questions we are asked most
- What does the ISPM15 mark actually tell me?
- It records that the wood packaging was treated by a registered operator under an approved measure, and identifies the country, the operator and the treatment used. It is the core evidence of treatment. An invoice, a supplier letter or a printed 'certificate' does not replace a required mark.
- Is heat treatment the same as kiln drying?
- No. Kiln drying is a moisture-reduction process. Heat treatment under ISPM15 is a specified treatment measure with defined parameters, applied by a registered operator and evidenced by the mark. Kiln-dried timber is not automatically ISPM15-treated wood packaging.
- Does an empty exported pallet need ISPM15 treatment?
- It depends on how the consignment is classified. A pallet carrying goods is wood packaging; a lorry-load of pallets sold as goods may be treated as a timber product consignment instead. The two routes can carry different requirements, so confirm the classification for your shipment before assuming.
- Can an ISPM15-treated pallet be reused?
- Yes. Treatment does not expire on a fixed date. The practical questions are whether the mark is still legible, whether the pallet has been repaired since treatment, and whether the pallet is still structurally fit for the journey.
Not sure whether your pallets are marked correctly?
Send photographs of the pallet and both marked faces. We will tell you what we can actually see — construction, condition and which marks are present and legible. That is preliminary product guidance, not certification.