TREATMENT WOOD
ISPM 15 revision
The Revision of ISPM No. 15 (2009) under Annex 1, requires that wood used to manufacture ISPM 15 compliant Wood Packaging must be made from debarked wood[ not to be confused with bark free wood. ISPM 15 was updated to adopt the bark restriction regulations proposed by the European Union in 2009. Australia held out for approximately one year with more stringent bark restrictions before conforming July 1, 2010
Debarked wood packaging
Wood packaging materials must be debarked prior to being heat treated or fumigated to meet ISPM 15 regulations. The debarking component of the regulation is to prevent the re-infestation of insects while lumber is sitting to be manufactured, or even after it has been manufactured. The official definition for debarked lumber according to the ISPM 15 Revision (2009) is:
"Irrespective of the type of treatment applied, wood packaging material must be made of debarked wood. For this standard, any number of visually separate and clearly distinct small pieces of bark may remain if they are: - less than 3 cm in width (regardless of the length) or - greater than 3 cm in width, with the total surface area of an individual piece of bark less than 50 square cm."
Argument for bark removal[edit]
What are the post treatment levels of infestation (with and without bark) compared with pre-treatment levels? Overall, from the studies presented there is either: a) no significant difference between infestation levels of treated and untreated wood; or b) differences identified are related to the species of insect which may prefer treated or untreated wood. Supporting information from a North American study (IFQRG 2005-27) is summarised in the Table below [5] (Data are numbers of beetles per cm2):
| Bark Size | Bark Beetle (Control) | Bark Beetle (HT) | Bark Borer (Control) | Bark Borer (HT) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 cm2 | 0.01 | 0.0035 | 0.0133 | 0.0064 |
| 100 cm2 | 0.005 | 0.01 | 0.0086 | 0.015 |
| 100% Coverage | 0.0087 | 0.012 | 0.0118 | 0.0137 |
ISPM Marking[edit]
- IPPC certification symbol.
- XX: represents the two letter ISO country code or ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code (e.g. AU for Australia, US for United States, NZ for New Zealand, GB for United Kingdom).
- 00: represents the unique certification number issued to NPPOs (regulating agencies that oversee the individual wood packaging manufacturers). Inclusion of this certification number ensures that the wood packaging material can be traced back to the NPPO/auditing agency.
- 1111: represents the unique certification number issued to the treatment provider and/or manufacturer. Inclusion of this certification number ensures that the wood packaging material can be traced back to the treatment provider and/or the manufacturer.
- YY: represents the treatment applied to the wood packaging material:
- HT is the code for heat treatment to a minimum of 56°C (133°F) for a minimum of 30 minutes
- MB is the code for methyl bromide fumigation.
- DUN: represents the code for when the solid wood material is used for dunnage. The "DUN" Dunnage code is not applied to manufactured wood packaging, only loose lumber/timbers to help secure products being shipped.
The ISPM 15 compliant stamp may include further information as producers and suppliers may choose to include additional information for identification purposes.
