The ISPM-15 FAO standard has established a new policy on wooden packaging material and this will allow a free world wide trading as wooden packagings like pallets, cases, cages or storage materials are used approximately in 70% of all transnational shipments.
In order to guarantee that the packaging material is lacking in injurious organisms, the exporter will have therefore to certify affixing a specific seal, that the material has been treated and is therefore in accordance with FAO regulations.
At the present day there are still points to clear, but FAO indications refer to packaging materials in rough solid wood of conifer or broad-leaved; considering therefore all packings in wood, like pallets (new and used), stowage materials (dunnage), cages, cases, barrels, spools, loading platforms, skids and collar pallets.
Those packings integrally made of by-products of wood such as plywood, peeled wood, OSB (oriented strand board) and particle boards, created with the use of adhesives, heat and pressure or any combination thereof should be considered sufficiently processed to have eliminated the risk associated with the raw wood.
Wood packaging material such as veneer peeler cores, sawdust, wood wool, and shavings, and raw wood cut into thin pieces may not be pathways for introduction of quarantine pests and should not be regulated unless technically justified.
FAO regulations, already effective for China and New Zeland, will become effective from January 2nd 2004 also for USA, Canada, Australia and other countries. Other nations are estimating the agreement to the plan, for example some extra UE states like Republic of Korea, Australia and Singapore.
The brand, a specific seal universally recognized and clearly visible, will have to be applied to all packings in wood and to the material from stowage subjected to ISPM-15 approved measures.
