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The International Plant Protection Convention passed a United Nations treaty governing 115 nations on March 15, 2002. The IPPC’s treaty is formally known as ISPM 15 (International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures #15) and all countries have implemented the rules, albeit with some differences depending on the country. The NWPCA hyperlink at the bottom of this page details each country’s implementation date and requirements. ISPM 15 calls for treatment of both coniferous (softwood) and non-coniferous (hardwood) packaging materials through heat treatment or fumigation.
In the U.S. the American Lumber Standards Committee (ALSC) was chosen by the Department of Agriculture to develop a certification program for WPM that satisfies ISPM-15 requirements. To show compliance with the new standards, each facility (manufacturer or recycler) must stamp their ISPM-15 compliant pallets and each certified facility has a unique stamp, which contains the certification agency logo, an abbreviation denoting the type of treatment, "US", and the facility number. This unique stamp proves compliance with ISPM 15 (see below). Premier Pallets, Inc. can provide pallets with the appropriate ALSC-approved mill stamp that proves compliance with the ISPM-15 requirements for WPM.
At this point the end user of the product is the best indicator of whether wood packaging must meet the ISPM 15 standard for port entry. Even within the IPPC nations there are differences as to proof of compliance, as some countries are requiring written documentation as well as the certification logo stamp. The NWPCA link shown below has updated information on the latest IPPC developments.
Recycled, remanufactured and/or repaired, i.e. not new, wood packaging should be re-certified and re-marked to demonstrate compliance with the treaty at the participating country's port of entry. For more information on the IPPC requirements, the links below are helpful.
http://www.palletenterprise.com/pests/
NWPCA IPPC Updates
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