Import regulations for solid wood packaging
IPPC standard
Many countries have appropriate quarantine regulations to protect indigenous forest resources against the introduction of wood pests. In order to prevent the development of different import regulations, the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), a subordinate organization of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN, has adopted ISPM 15 (International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures) "Guidelines for Regulating Wood Packaging Material in International Trade".
The essential contents of ISPM 15:
The ISPM 15 only applies to solid wood. Excluded are wood-based materials and solid wood thinner than 6 mm (in accordance with the harmonized system of the EU).
Treatment of the packaging according to the approved measures. This includes the heat treatment (HT - heat treatment) at a core temperature of 56 ° C for at least 30 minutes, e.g. technical drying (KD - kiln drying, oven drying), if the above values are achieved.
The treatment marking must be permanently and clearly legible on two opposite sides of the packaging. The label consists of the country code according to ISO 3166 (eg DE for Germany), the identifier for the region (eg NW for North Rhine-Westphalia) and a registration number issued by the regional phytosanitary office to the packaging manufacturer which the sender is assigned (one-time assigned number starting with 49).
The use of debarked wood may be required.
Waiver of official phytosanitary certificate.
The plant protection services or offices provides information on which countries, at what time and to what extent the IPPC standard applies.
In addition, the Federal Biological Research Center for Agriculture and Forestry, Department of National and International Plant Health Affairs, publishes a guideline on the application of the IPPC standard and the German translation of the German Institute for Plant Health at ISPM 15.