What ISPM-15 actually regulates
ISPM-15 is the international standard for solid wood packaging material — raw, unprocessed wood used as pallets, crates, dunnage, skids and bracing. Because raw wood can carry bark beetles and other pests, it must be treated (usually heat treatment to a 56 °C core for 30 minutes) and marked with the wheat-stamp before it crosses a border.
Why plywood is exempt
Engineered wood is made under heat and pressure with adhesives. That manufacturing process already eliminates pests, so the standard treats it as low-risk and exempts it from treatment and stamping. Exempt materials include:
- Plywood (all grades)
- OSB (oriented strand board)
- MDF and particleboard
- Hardboard and similar glued/processed panels
- Veneer and wood wool / sawdust below a thickness threshold
Where a plywood box still needs treatment
Most export boxes are not pure plywood. A typical plywood case sits on a solid-wood skid or runner base and may use solid blocks or framing. Those raw-wood parts are not exempt. So the practical rule is:
| Packaging component | ISPM-15 needed? |
|---|---|
| Plywood box / case panels | No — exempt |
| OSB / MDF / particleboard panels | No — exempt |
| Solid-wood pallet, crate or dunnage | Yes — HT + stamp |
| Solid-wood skid, runner, block or batten on a plywood box | Yes — that part HT + stamped |
| All-plywood box on a plywood skid | No — fully exempt |
The practical takeaway for exporters
If you want to skip ISPM-15 entirely, specify an all-plywood (or engineered-wood) box and skid — no raw timber. That removes the treatment step, the stamp and the customs risk. If solid wood is needed for strength, keep it to the skid and have just those members heat-treated and stamped. Either way, always confirm the destination country's current rules before shipping.
At Cochin Wood we build both — all-plywood cases and plywood boxes on heat-treated solid skids — and issue the treatment certificate at dispatch. See plywood boxes & crates and plywood pallets.