Last updated: 30 September 2026.
Quick answer. ISPM 15 is the international standard for wood packaging in trade: the wood must be treated and stamped with the IPPC mark, and the mark's codes identify the country, the responsible producer or treatment provider and the treatment used. Plywood is outside its scope.
What ISPM 15 covers, which wood packaging is exempt, what each part of the IPPC stamp encodes, and the approved treatments behind HT, MB and SF.
This page reads the standard itself. The descriptions of what the standard covers and excludes, the marking rules and the treatment parameters below come from ISPM 15 as published by the IPPC Secretariat (FAO): the IPPC's publication page for the standard, the IPPC's list of adopted standards, and the official Chinese edition of the standard's full text, which is self-translated here with that declared. All sources were retrieved on 30 September 2026 and are listed at the end.
ISPM 15 is the International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures No. 15, titled Regulation of wood packaging material in international trade. It is adopted under the International Plant Protection Convention and published by the IPPC Secretariat at the FAO.
The IPPC's own description of the standard is short and worth reading in full, because it fixes both the point of the standard and its limit:
"This standard describes phytosanitary measures that reduce the risk of introduction and spread of quarantine pests associated with the movement in international trade of wood packaging material made from raw wood. Wood packaging material covered by this standard includes dunnage but excludes wood packaging made from wood processed in such a way that it is free from pests (e.g. plywood). The phytosanitary measures described in this standard are not intended to provide ongoing protection from contaminating pests or other organisms."
Three consequences for anyone shipping or receiving goods on wooden pallets, crates or dunnage:
The standard's scope section lists the wood packaging forms it applies to. They are described there as forms that can appear in almost any imported goods, including goods that are not themselves subject to phytosanitary inspection.
| Regulated form | Notes from the standard |
|---|---|
| Crates, boxes and packing cases | The cases goods are built into or shipped inside |
| Dunnage | Loose timber used to brace or support a load — the standard calls dunnage out specifically as high-risk, because it is reused and its true origin is hard to determine |
| Pallets (pallets and skids) | The form most buyers from China actually meet |
| Cable drums and spools | Included in the same list |
For dunnage in particular the standard adds a carve-out that matters commercially: where a consignment of timber goods is supported by dunnage made from timber of the same species and quality as the goods and meeting the same phytosanitary requirements, that dunnage may be treated as part of the consignment and not as wood packaging under the standard.
The standard's exemption list is explicit. Material on it is treated as low-risk and is not subject to the standard's requirements.
| Outside the standard's scope | The standard's own wording |
|---|---|
| Thin wood | Wood packaging made entirely of wood 6 mm thick or less |
| Processed wood-based packaging | Packaging made wholly from processed wood such as plywood, particle board, oriented strand board and veneer — made by gluing, heating and pressing, or a combination of those |
| Wine and drinks barrels | Barrels for wine or other beverages that were heated during manufacture |
| Some gift boxes and presentation cases | Gift boxes for wine, cigars or other goods where the wood has been processed or treated to remove pests during production |
| Sawdust, shavings and wood wool | Listed as low-risk |
| Fixed fittings | Wood components permanently attached to transport vehicles and containers |
Two footnotes the standard attaches to that list are worth carrying over rather than dropping:
The approved measures in ISPM 15 are two: a treatment and a mark. The standard states that once the mark is applied, a phytosanitary certificate is not required — the mark itself is the evidence that an internationally accepted measure was applied, and NPPOs should accept it as the basis for allowing entry without further phytosanitary requirements for that wood packaging.
Annex 2 of the standard (as revised and adopted in April 2018) defines the mark as the combination of four elements:
| Element | What Annex 2 requires |
|---|---|
| The symbol | The IPPC-style symbol, placed to the left of the other elements, and required to be "highly similar" to the template in the annex; it may be registered as a trademark or certification mark under national, regional or international procedures |
| Country code | The ISO two-letter country code (shown as "XX" in the standard's template). The standard requires it to be separated from the producer/treatment provider code by a hyphen |
| Producer / treatment provider code | A specific code assigned by the NPPO to the producer of the wood packaging or to the treatment provider (shown as "000"). The standard says the NPPO decides whether it is numeric or alphanumeric |
| Treatment code | The abbreviation for the applied approved measure, on a separate line — or hyphenated if it appears on the same line |
The four treatment codes Annex 2 recognises:
| Code | Treatment |
|---|---|
| HT | Heat treatment |
| DH | Dielectric heating |
| MB | Methyl bromide |
| SF | Sulphuryl fluoride |
Annex 2 also fixes how the mark must be applied, and these are the points that most often fail in practice:
Annex 1 (also revised and adopted in April 2018) sets the approved treatments. Two things in it are commonly missed.
Debarked wood is required regardless of treatment. The standard requires wood packaging to be made from debarked wood whichever treatment is used, and then defines the tolerance: visibly separated pieces of bark may remain if a piece is less than 3 cm wide — whatever its length — or if it is wider than 3 cm but the total surface area of that individual piece is less than 50 cm². The timing differs by treatment:
| Treatment | Debarking timing |
|---|---|
| MB and SF | Before treatment — bark affects methyl bromide performance |
| HT (including kiln and dielectric heating) | Before or after treatment |
Heat treatment is a temperature-and-time parameter, not a technique. The standard states that different energy sources and processes can reach the required parameters, naming conventional steam heating, kiln drying, heat-based chemical pressure impregnation, and dielectric heating by microwave or radio frequency. For conventional steam or kiln-drying heat treatment, the core requirement in the annex is that the entire piece of wood, including the core, reaches a minimum of 56 °C and holds it for at least 30 minutes. Where dielectric heating is used, the annex notes the coldest point during treatment is usually the surface, and in some cases — for example treating large-dimension wood coming from frozen to thawed — it may be the core.
For sulphuryl fluoride, the annex sets a floor on temperature for the whole treatment: the object temperature, including the core, must be kept at 20 °C or above, measured as the lower of the object temperature and the surrounding air temperature, and dosing is calculated on that basis. The annex also requires the gas to reach a uniform distribution before treatment time starts counting, and requires the wood packaging not to be wrapped in materials the gas cannot penetrate.
The standard places the obligations on National Plant Protection Organizations in both exporting and importing countries, not on buyers. The points a buyer is most likely to meet:
Wood packaging is one of several checks a consignment carries, and it is the one that cannot be fixed once the container has sailed. Three companions on this site:
Two practical notes, both ours. First, the mark is applied by the packaging producer or by the treatment provider — in most supply chains that is not the parts factory, so the question goes to whoever supplies the pallets and crates, and asking at the order stage is cheaper than asking once the pallet is on the quay. Second, material is a lever: the standard's own exemption list puts packaging made entirely of wood 6 mm thick or less and packaging made wholly from processed wood such as plywood outside its scope, so the material specified for your packaging is part of the decision, not an afterthought. If you are sourcing parts and want the packaging question answered with the quotation, send the requirement with your drawing.
This checklist is ours — it is a reading of the requirements above, not text from the standard:
Listed plainly, because a page about a standard is only as good as the lines it refuses to cross:
Wood packaging material made from raw wood that moves in international trade, including dunnage. The IPPC's own description of the standard excludes wood packaging made from wood processed so that it is free from pests — plywood being the example given.
No, and this is stated in the standard: once the Annex 2 mark is applied, a phytosanitary certificate is not required, because the mark shows an internationally accepted measure was applied. NPPOs should accept the mark as the basis for allowing the packaging to enter without further phytosanitary requirements.
They are the treatment codes in Annex 2: HT is heat treatment, MB is methyl bromide, DH is dielectric heating and SF is sulphuryl fluoride. The code must appear on a separate line from the country and producer or treatment provider codes, or be hyphenated from them if it shares their line.
For conventional steam or kiln-drying heat treatment, the entire piece of wood including the core must reach a minimum of 56 °C and hold it for at least 30 minutes. The standard notes that other processes — including dielectric heating by microwave or radio frequency — may also be used to reach the required parameters.
Normally no. The standard says a unit treated and marked under it needs no re-treatment or re-marking for its whole life if it has not been repaired, remanufactured or altered. Once up to about one third of the material has been removed or replaced, the unit counts as repaired and every added part needs its own mark; beyond about one third it counts as remanufactured and must be re-treated and re-marked.
All sources retrieved 30 September 2026. This page is an independent reading of the sources listed; the official pages themselves are the specification.
| Fact used on this page | Source |
|---|---|
| S1 — Title of the standard (Regulation of wood packaging material in international trade) and its reference as ISPM 15; the standard's own description that it covers wood packaging material made from raw wood including dunnage, excludes processed wood that is free from pests (e.g. plywood), and is not intended to provide ongoing protection from contaminating pests or other organisms; the page's site publication date of 13 July 2021 (retrieved 2026-09-30) | IPPC Secretariat (FAO) — publication page for ISPM 15 (retrieved 2026-09-30) https://www.ippc.int/en/publications/640/ |
| S2 — The status of the text as an adopted International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures within the IPPC framework, and the IPPC page where adopted standards are published (retrieved 2026-09-30) | IPPC Secretariat (FAO) — Adopted Standards (ISPMs) index (retrieved 2026-09-30) https://www.ippc.int/en/core-activities/standards-setting/ispms/ |
| S3 — The full text of ISPM 15 as published by the IPPC Secretariat in its official Chinese edition (issued 2019; adopted 2018; the standard's history including the 2018 revision of Annexes 1 and 2), from which this page's self-translated content is drawn: the scope list of regulated wood packaging forms; the dunnage carve-out and its footnotes; the exemption list (wood 6 mm or less, processed wood-based packaging, barrels heated during manufacture, gift boxes processed to remove pests, sawdust/shavings/wood wool, fittings permanently attached to vehicles and containers); the requirement that treatment and marking be NPPO-authorised and that treatment precede marking; the statement that the mark replaces a phytosanitary certificate and that NPPOs should accept it without further phytosanitary requirements, with technical justification required for anything beyond; NPPO responsibilities including authorisation, registration, monitoring, inspection and audit; reuse, repair (removal or replacement of up to about one third) and remanufacture (more than about one third) rules, the recommendation to limit the number of marks per unit, and the statement that multiple marks on one unit are not in themselves a violation; import-stage actions for non-compliant packaging; Annex 1 parameters (debarked wood required with the tolerance of pieces under 3 cm wide or, if wider, with an individual piece under 50 cm² of surface area; debarking before treatment for MB and SF and before or after for heat treatment; minimum 56 °C for at least 30 minutes for conventional steam or kiln-drying heat treatment; alternative energy sources including dielectric heating by microwave or radio frequency; the coldest point being usually the surface under dielectric heating; object temperature of at least 20 °C including the core throughout sulphuryl fluoride treatment; uniform gas distribution before treatment time starts; no wrapping in gas-impermeable material; treatment provider record-keeping); Annex 2 elements and rules (symbol, ISO two-letter country code separated by hyphen from the producer/treatment provider code, producer/treatment provider code assigned by the NPPO, treatment code on a separate line or hyphenated; rectangular or square mark inside a border with a vertical line separating symbol from codes; no other information inside the frame; legibility, permanence, non-transferability, placement preferably on at least two opposite faces; no handwriting; avoid red and orange; dunnage marking options and the rule that small offcuts without a complete mark must not be used as dunnage). Translation into English is ours; the Chinese edition is the official Chinese text and the English original of the standard is the authoritative version | IPPC Secretariat (FAO) — official Chinese edition of ISPM 15 (PDF), retrieved 2026-09-30 https://assets.ippc.int/static/media/files/publication/zh/2019/05/ISPM_15_2018_Zh_PostCPM-13_LRGRev_2019-05-24.pdf |