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 Heat
Treated ISPM 15
Palcon's
heat treating facility has the ability to treat 1500 pallets
per day. Pallets heat sterilized to internal temperatures
of 56ºC(133ºF) to74ºC (165ºF), which satisfies various
international requirements. Regulations require all softwood
pallets and crates entering any EU country to be
heat-treated or fumigated. Heat-treating must be done by a
certified manufacturer and the softwood pallet or crate
needs to be stamped with the following stamp:
 Used
Pallets: Since there is no way of guaranteeing the type of
lumber used to repair recycled pallets, used pallets will
need to be certified and stamped as fumigated or
heat-treated.
Palcon's
heat-treating system is a safe and effective method for heat
sterilization. The system treats both new and used
pallets. Heat sterilized pallets are a safe alternative to
fumigated pallets.
Dip-Treated Pallet
The Palcon Pallet
was developed for use in the food industry or any industry
that can not risk the possibility of insect infestation or
mold. Dip treating allows the chemical to be absorbed via
osmosis into the core of the pallet. This provides
protection against wood boring insects, decay fungi, and
mold for the life of the pallet.
ISPM 15 is an International Phytosanitary
Measure developed by the IPPC that directly addresses the
need to treat wood materials of a thickness greater than
6mm, used to ship products between countries. It affects all
wood packaging material (pallets, crates, dunnage,
etc)requiring that they be treated with heat or fumigated
with methyl bromide and marked, often branded [1], with a
seal of compliance. Products exempt from the ISPM 15 are
made from alternative material, like paper, plastic or
manufactured wood products (eg. plywood).
Import
regulations for packaging containers made from solid wood -
IPPC
standard
Many
countries have put quarantine regulations in place to
protect their native forests from the introduction of wood
pests. In order to prevent the proliferation of differing
import regulations, the International Plant Protection
Convention (IPPC) Secretariat, part of the Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, has
issued ISPM 15 (International Standards for Phytosanitary
Measures) "Guidelines for Regulating Wood Packaging Material
in International Trade".
The key
features of IPSM 15:
IPSM 15
applies only to solid wood, with derived timber products and
solid wood thinner than 6 mm (according to the EU Harmonized
System) being exempt.
Treatment of the packaging by approved measures, which
include heat treatment (HT) to a core temperature of 56°C
for at least 30 minutes, for example by kiln drying (KD),
provided that the above-stated specifications are achieved.
Chemical pressure impregnation (CPI) is approved only if the
required HT specifications are achieved, which is not
generally the case. Another measure is fumigation with
methyl bromide (MB) depending on concentration, duration and
temperature.
Permanent and legible marking of the packaging must be
provided on two opposite sides of the package. The mark is
composed of the ISO 3166 two letter country code (e.g. DE
for Germany), the regional identifier (e.g. NW for North
Rhine-Westphalia) and a registration number issued by the
regional phytosanitary authority to the packaging container
manufacturer, the packer or the consignor (unique number
beginning with 49). The treatment method is denoted by the
abbreviation HT for heat treatment or MB for fumigation with
methyl bromide. The letters DB may also be included where
debarking is required.
Figure 1: Example of IPPC mark
a. Trademark - the identifying symbol, logo, or name of the
accredited agency
b. Facility Identification - product manufacturer name,
brand or assigned facility number
c. Heat Treated mark
d. Country Code - the two letter ISO country abbreviation
e. Approved International symbol for compliant wood
packaging material
f. Indication of use for dunnage (may be spelled out fully)
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