In connection with exports, wooden packaging materials, including pallets, are subject to strict international phytosanitary regulations which are determined by FAO in the standard ISPM 15. The purpose of this standard is to prevent the spread of pests expanding with packaging materials made of raw wood and endangering first of all living trees.
Our company was one of the first in Hungary to put the necessary closed system drying and heat treating equipment into operation and thus obtained the right to use the international mark of the standard.
The requirements of heat treatment:
- The timber placed in the heat treating chamber must be heated to 56 °C, for at least 30 minutes, in its total cross-section.
- • Continuous electronic registration of the values of 6 temperature sensor probes placed in the wood, on the basis of which the system automatically prepares the protocol proving the heat treatment.
- • Based on our accreditation permission, we place the marking of the international ISPM 15 standard on the wood and wooden products treated in this way and attach the document certifying the heat treatment to the delivery documents of the product.
Besides heat treatment, the moisture content of wood placed in the chambers may be reduced to the required value.
It is important to note that drying and heat treating are not the same procedures in terms of process or purpose.