Buy sideExportISPM 15 HT
Heat-treated pallets for loads leaving the country
A heat-treated pallet has had the core of its wood held at 56 °C or more for at least 30 minutes, and it carries the stamp that proves it. Any pallet or crate going to another country usually needs one.
What HT means
ISPM 15 is the international rule for wood packaging. It asks for heat treatment, or fumigation, and a mark that says which was done. Heat treatment means the core of the wood reaches at least 56 °C and stays there for at least 30 minutes. The wood must also be debarked first.
Allowed bark on debarked wood is less than 3 cm wide, or if wider than 3 cm, under 50 square cm in surface area. A pallet with bark showing past that is a problem even if the stamp is real.
Who needs it
Exporters and manufacturers around Quonset, ProvPort and the Providence and Attleboro metals base ship on crates and pallets that cross a border. If your load leaves the country, the pallet needs the treatment and stamp. If it stays in the country, it does not.
Canada is a partial exception. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency exempts wood packaging imported from the continental United States from its D-98-08 policy, pending a phased move to full ISPM 15. Check the current rule before you rely on it.
What heat treatment does not do
Heat-treated pallets loaded into trailer vans while still hot are susceptible to mould, and heat treatment does not make wood immune to it. Let the wood cool and dry. Mould and moisture explains the 20% line.
What to send
Send the destination country, the pallet size, how many, and whether the load is crated. A claim of stamp or certification is the producer's to make. How to read the stamp.
Ask for the mark to be legible on two opposite faces of the pallet, and photograph it before shipment, since a worn or smeared stamp can hold up an export even when the wood is fine.
Questions from the docks
Do pallets need to be heat treated to ship overseas?
Wood packaging in international trade is regulated under ISPM 15, which asks for treatment and a mark. The export guide covers the Rhode Island case.
Does heat treatment stop mould?
No. Pallets loaded hot into a van are susceptible, so dryness and air movement still matter.
Ask for heat-treated pallets
Say where the load is going and what size pallet it needs.
Prefer email? Write to info@providenceusedpallets.com.
Sources, last reviewed November 2026: