Knowledge Centre — export & packaging compliance

ISPM15 explained for UK businesses

ISPM15 is a plant-health standard. It exists to stop timber packaging carrying pests across borders, and it applies to the pallet itself, not whatever is sitting on it.

Published by Palletmove. Last reviewed: 3 September 2026. Operational guidance, not legal or customs advice. We separate marked from unmarked stock during a collection or site review and supply replacements — but whether a specific consignment is cleared to move is a decision for your freight forwarder or the relevant plant-health authority.

What the official guidance says

GOV.UK states that businesses using, producing or supplying wood packaging material to move goods between Great Britain and other countries — including EU member states — must follow ISPM15 rules. That last point matters, because a widespread and outdated belief holds that ISPM15 only applies to destinations outside the EU. It does not.

Solid wood packaging material includes pallets, and also crates, cases, dunnage and similar items made from solid wood. Processed non-solid wood products such as plywood sit outside the wood packaging material rules.

Compliance is evidenced by a legible mark applied to the packaging itself. Certification paperwork does not substitute for the required mark. If a mark is required and it is missing, illegible, or has been cut away by a repair, an invoice, a supplier letter or a treatment certificate will not stand in for it.

What the mark is telling you

The mark records that the item was treated to the standard and identifies who treated it. It is a physical, permanent mark applied by an authorised operator — not something you can apply yourself, add retrospectively, or recreate because you know the pallet was treated at some point.

Practically, this means inspection is a visual job. Someone has to look at each pallet, find the mark, and confirm it is readable. On a mixed pile of used stock, that is slower than most teams expect and is the single most common cause of a late compliance discovery.

Scope

What's covered, and what isn't

A quick reference only — always check the official guidance for the current position.

ISPM15 scope summary for common packaging items
Item	Position	Note
Timber pallets	Solid wood packaging material	In scope of the wood packaging rules for movements between Great Britain and other countries, EU included.
Crates, cases, dunnage	Solid wood packaging material	Treated the same way as pallets where they are made from solid wood.
Plywood and similar processed panels	Not solid wood	Processed non-solid wood is outside the wood packaging material rules.
Used pallets of unknown history	Requires inspection	A pallet is only evidenced as compliant by a legible mark on the pallet. Assume nothing from its appearance or footprint.
Repaired pallets	Requires care	Repair can remove or obscure a mark, and can introduce untreated timber. Check the specific pallet rather than the batch.

Checklists

How to check your own stock

Marks to inspect

Look on the blocks or stringer faces, on at least two opposite sides of the pallet.
Confirm every character of the mark is legible, not partially sanded, painted over or split.
Check that repair boards have not replaced the marked component.
Treat an unmarked pallet as unevidenced, not as non-compliant — the point is that you cannot demonstrate compliance.
Record marked and unmarked counts separately; a percentage is not good enough for a booked consignment.

What to photograph

The full pallet square-on from the side.
A close-up of each mark, readable at full size.
The underside and any repair boards.
A tape measure across the footprint and deck thickness.
The stack as a whole, so quantity and mix are visible.

Unsure whether your stock is marked?

Photograph the block faces and send them over. We will tell you what is legible and what is not.

Talk to Palletmove