As a wood packaging material (WPM) supplier, abiding by the International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPM15) is mandatory. It is because the treatment helps to prevent pests from attacking products that your clients are transporting. However, there are particular instances where a wood supplier might find pests in their pallet regardless of the fact that the pallet has a stamp of approval. While such cases are rare, affected suppliers usually end up losing clients. For this reason, you need to be very careful when treating your wooden pallets. This article highlights measures you can take to ensure that your pallets are treated adequately.
Extended Treatment -- According to the ISPM15 treatment regulations, it is recommended that when using heat to kill wood pests and larvae, the 56/30 rule be applied. What the guide means is that wood must be heated at 56 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes. However, the rule might not work on timber that harbours heat-resistant pests. Therefore, to ensure that not a single pest remains in the wood, make sure that your wooden pallets are heated for more than 30 minutes. Doing so will increase the chances of killing heat-tolerant pests and larvae thereby leaving you with clean, pest-free, pallet that is ready for delivery to clients.
Equal Treatment of Wood -- When wood is not treated equally, then there are chances that some planks will harbour pests while others will not. As such, it is critical to ensure that each piece receives the same treatment like the previous one. For instance, when applying a fumigant on the surface of the wood, the presence of cold pockets might lead to uneven distribution of solution on the surface. Most importantly, you want to make sure that an approved agency certifies the firm that is treating your wooden pallets for protection of your clientele.
Use Wood without Bark -- When taking your wooden packaging material for ISPM15 treatment, make sure that there is no bark on it. The reason is that there are species of borers that can start and complete development in treated wood. These pests will colonise any wood with bark irrespective of whether they have undergone heat or fumigant treatment. Once they get inside the core of the main wood, it becomes difficult for heat or a fumigant to penetrate the bark and into the central lumber. Therefore, it is recommended that the wood you intend to use for your pallets be without the bark.
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