Shipping Overseas with Wooden Pallets

When shipping goods overseas, you don’t want to run into any problems. For everything to go smoothly, you need to use the correct wooden pallets, specifically, ones that have been heat treated or fumigated in accordance with IIPC standards. In this article, you’ll learn why. You’ll also discover some of the benefits of using heat-treated wooden pallets, even for domestic shipping or shipping between Canada and the US.

International standards
Most countries around the world now adhere to a treaty called the International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures No. 15 (ISPM 15), developed by the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC). The main purpose of this treaty is to prevent the spread of insects and disease that could negatively impact plants or ecosystems. The ISPM 15 has regulations requiring that all wood packaging materials used in international shipping, including wooden pallets, are heat treated or fumigated with methyl bromide. Using pallets that don’t comply with this regulation results in penalties, significant quarantine delays and in some cases, refused entry into the destination country.

It’s easy to spot which wooden pallets (or other wood packaging materials) comply with the ISPM 15. They’re stamped or branded with a mark of compliance—what’s known in the industry as the “wheat stamp.” The stamp or brand is a rectangle divided into two parts. In the left section is the ISPM logo (a depiction of a strand of wheat), and in the right section, you find the following:

• A two-letter ISO country code (CA for Canada)
• A unique certification code issued to the company that heat treated or fumigated the pallet
• The letters HT or MB, indicating whether the material was heat treated or fumigated

Benefits of heat-treated pallets

Aside from being necessary in order to comply with IPPC’s regulations, using heat-treated pallets offers some distinct advantages, including:

• Durability. The heat treatment process reduces moisture content in the pallets, which makes them harder and more resistant.
• Affordability. Removing moisture from the pallets makes them lighter, therefore reducing cargo weight and, in turn, shipping costs.
• Pest prevention: Heat treated pallets prevent insects from damaging not only foreign ecosystems but also the goods you’re shipping. This means you’ll have no issues with Formosan termites, common furniture beetles, deathwatch beetles, wood-boring weevils or house longhorn beetles.

Heat-treated wooden pallets in Toronto and Brampton

If you’re shipping cargo overseas and require wooden pallets, talk to us at Brampton Pallet Inc. You can trust us to supply you with quality heat-treated wooden pallets that comply with international shipping regulations. Contact us today!

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