• Disease can be spread amongst plants, seeds and wood products
• To protect forest growth and replantation strategies, regulations and restrictions on import and export of timber have been put in place in many countries
• This applies to all wooden products including sawn logs and all wooden packaging
• If you export such products, compliance with the importing country’s plant health regulations is essential
• Products need to have a plant health (phytosanitary) certificate issued by the Plant Protection authorities of the importing country, declaring the goods free of all harmful organisms
• In the UK this is controlled by the Forestry Commission, Department of Food, Rural Affairs, DEFRA and the Scottish Executive for Environment, Rural Affairs and Development for plants, soil and used forest machinery.

ISPM15:

• ISPM15 is an internationally agreed standard for the treatment of all forms of wooden packaging that are manufactured from non man made wooden materials
• To comply, wooden packaging has to undergo heat treatment or furnigation
• These processes must be carried out to an agreed standard by an approved source
• When packaging has been correctly treated it can be marked ISPM1 compliant