Mitchell Packers develops alternative to wooden pallets

JOY ORLEK
THE INTRODUCTION in January next year of a new wood packaging standard to lessen the risk of unprocessed raw wood being used as a pathway for the introduction and the spread of pests and diseases through international trade has caught many in the freight industry unawares.
Known under the technical acronym ISPM 15 (International Phytosanitary Standard for Wood Packaging ISPM15), it requires wood packaging like pallets and dunnage to be heat treated or fumigated according to stringent standards before being used for export purposes. And shippers who don’t comply risk penalties and detention of their cargo.
“We’ve been complying for the past year and a half,” says Greg Mitchell of Mitchell Packers, “but we’ve also been developing a new product that won’t need fumigation.”
“It’s now close to being launched and is likely to save our customers big money, paper work and headaches.” Mitchell expects the product to become available early next year.
The ISPM15 requirement was hastened by an incident a few years when the Asian long-horn beetle was discovered in the US.
It had made its way there in wood packaging imported from China, with the result that avenues of trees in Chicago and New York had to be immediately felled to control the spread of this pest.
It has not yet been eradicated and felling continues. It has also been intercepted in imports in many other countries, including the UK.