This standard describes phytosanitary measures to reduce the risk of introduction and/or spread of quarantine pests associated with wood packaging material , made of coniferous and non-coniferous raw wood, in use in international trade.
Wood packaging material is frequently made of raw wood that may not have undergone sufficient processing or treatment to remove or kill pests and therefore becomes a pathway for the introduction and spread of pests. Furthermore, wood packaging material is very often re-used, recycled or re-manufactured (in that packaging received with an imported consignment may be re-used to accompany another consignment for export).
The true origin of any piece of wood packaging material is difficult to determine and thus its phytosanitary status cannot be ascertained. Therefore the normal process of undertaking risk analysis to determine if measures are necessary and the strength of such measures Is frequently not possible for wood packaging material because its origin and phytosanitary status may not be known. For this reason, this standard describes globally accepted measures that are approved and that may be applied to wood packaging material by all countries to practically eliminate the risk for most quarantine pests and significantly reduce the risk from a number of other pests that may be associated with that material All lumber used in pallets which are stamped with our heat treatment stamps and government issued IPPC# have been heat treated to a core temperature of 56 degrees Celsius for a minimum of 60 minutes.
The heat-treatment is conducted in accordance with the standards established by the Ministry of Environment & Water Department of Plant Protection & Quarantine and is confirmed by the manufacturer's HT Stamp on each pallet. This treatment and the ink used for the stamp meets the regulatory requirements of the International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures, ISPM-15.
