Following the UK's departure from the European Union, the UK Government has issued guidance on the import of wood packaging materials to the UK. If the UK and EU fail to agree a Brexit deal, the UK will regard EU member states, including Ireland, as third countries. In that case, if you are exporting goods to the UK your pallets will have to comply with the requirements applying to such countries. 

All pallets manufactured by Hazelhill Timber Products comply with those requirements, which include:

• Heat treatment that achieves a temperature of 56 degrees Celsius for a minimum duration of 30 continuous minutes throughout the entire profile of the wood, including its core.
• The material must also display a mark with the 2-letter ISO country code assigned by the National Plant Protection Organisation (NPPO) of the country concerned. It identifies the producer and the approved measure applied to the WPM as specified in Annex II of ISPM15.

Find out more about our ISPM 15 compliance.

You can read the UK Government guidance in full here.

What is ISPM 15?

When wood packaging is used in the shipping of commodities internationally, it must be heat-treated or fumigated in a specific way to prevent the global spread of timber pests. The regulations governing these treatments are specified in International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures Guideline No. 15: Guidelines for Regulating Wood Packaging Material in International Trade. This guideline is commonly referred to as ISPM 15.

ISPM 15 was drawn up by the Secretariat of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) as part of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization global programme of policy and technical assistance in plant quarantine.

In Ireland, ISPM15 is implemented by the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) and the the Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture and Food. These organisations are responsible for the registration and auditing of kiln facilities, the registration of pallet and other wood packing manufacturers, marking systems and compliance standards.

ISPM15-compliant packaging can be identified by the presence of the officially approved mark, which verifies the treatment and incorporates the registration number of the producer.

For more information on ISPM15, see:

• ISPM No.15 and Wood Packaging Material (WPM) requirements in the event of a `No-deal' Brexit - from the Department of Agriculture & Food website

• ISPM 15: The International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures No. 15 Regulation of Wood Packaging Material - from the Department of Agriculture & Food website

• Forestry trader notices and the requirement for wood packaging and pallets to be ISPM15 compliant - from the Department of Agriculture & Food website

• ISPM No. 15 (2019) Revised- Regulation of wood packaging material in international trade - from the IPPC website

• ISPM 15 information on the TimCon website
• Wikipedia