Heat-treated pallets with the ISPM 15 mark

What the mark means

ISPM 15 is the international standard that regulates wood packaging material in trade. It exists to stop pests moving with pallets and crates. The common treatment is heat: the core of the wood reaches at least 56 °C (133 °F) for a minimum of 30 minutes. The wood must also be debarked before treatment; bark wider than 3 cm may remain only if its surface area is under 50 square centimetres.

After treatment the pallet is stamped with the IPPC symbol, a country code, the producer's number and the letters HT. The stamp guide labels each part.

Who in the metro needs it

Parts and products leaving the country on a pallet need the mark. In this metro that means aerospace and defense suppliers around Tinker and Midwest City shipping components abroad, Oklahoma manufacturers sending equipment by container through Gulf ports, and anyone packing for Foreign-Trade Zone 106 beside Will Rogers airport, which serves a 22-county area. Two inland river ports with barge access to the Gulf lie within two hours.

Domestic loads do not need HT wood. A pallet headed to Dallas or Denver can be ordinary lumber, which is cheaper. Canada is a partial exception: wood packaging coming into Canada from the continental United States is currently exempt from CFIA policy D-98-08, pending a phased move toward full ISPM 15 implementation, so check the current rule with your forwarder before relying on that.

What to say in the request

• The destination country, because rules differ and some customers ask for more than the minimum.
• The size and build: heat treatment applies to a 48x40 stringer pallet or a custom block pallet alike.
• The count and whether it is a single export run or a rhythm.
• Whether you need to see the stamp before loading, for a customs file or a buyer.

For parts that stay inside the United States, a plain pallet is fine. Do not pay for a stamp the freight does not need.

Heat-treated versus plain, at a glance

What heat treatment actually does

Under ISPM 15, heat treatment means the wood's core reaches at least 56 degrees Celsius and holds it for at least 30 continuous minutes. That is hot enough to kill the insects and larvae that wood packaging can carry across borders, and it leaves no chemical residue. Kiln drying alone does not qualify unless the treatment record shows the core temperature was reached.

Treatment is carried out by a certified facility that applies the mark afterwards. The mark is a permanent stamp, not a sticker, and it names the facility. A pallet built from untreated lumber and then stamped by someone else is not compliant, however convincing the stamp looks. If the pallet is later repaired with untreated boards, the mark no longer covers the whole pallet.

For a buyer the practical questions are narrow. Which destination country, since rules differ. Whether the pallets are new or reclaimed, since reclaimed lumber can be re-treated but must be documented. And how many, how often and by what date. A heat-treated order for a single export shipment is a different job from a standing weekly supply.

Questions, answered

Where to next

• Pallet guides, in plain words
• Pallets for aerospace and defense supply