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.

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Heat-treating must be done by a certified manufacturer and the softwood pallet or crate needs to be stamped with this stamp.

ISPM 15

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, 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:

The key features of ISPM 15:

  • ISPM 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.

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".

IPPC-mark

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)

HT-150 HEAT TREATING SYSTEM

These custom units are designed for specific applications.

Units will treat 200 to 2000 pallets per cycle. Pallets processed in unit will comply with new international requirements.

In addition, units can dry pallets.

Please call 800-838-2023 for additional information.

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