TIMCON welcomes ISPM15 easement
The Timber Packaging & Pallet Confederation has welcomed the Government’s decision to temporarily allow heat treated components to repair pallets, rather than requiring heat treatment of the full pallet.
Heat-treated wooden components will be temporarily allowed for the repair of wooden pallets and packaging, increasing options for businesses who want to grow their capacity of ISPM15-compliant wooden packaging material (WPM) before the final Brexit deadline on December 31, 2020.
This means firms can avoid ‘the total retreatment of pallets after repair’, as required by the original regulations.
The UK Government has stated, from January 1, 2021 ‘it will be a legal requirement for all wood packaging material moving in both directions between UK and the EU to be compliant with a treatment and mark as specified in the International Standard for Phytosanitary measures No 15 (ISPM15).’
In effect this means all wood pallets need to be heat treated.
TIMCON added some manufacturers have been increasing their heat-treating capacities with new investment in facilities, while others were expanding capacity of current equipment – moving to 24/7 shift patterns, for example.
