US-123456 HTComplete
United States · facility 123456 · conventional heat treatment. Complete and unambiguous.
The most common mark you will see on domestic-origin export packaging.
Order and separators don’t matter — dashes, slashes or spaces are all fine. Ignore the wheat symbol; it can’t be typed.
Try one
The four required elements
- 01IPPC wheat symbol — must be present on the wood
- 02ISO two-letter country code
- 03Registered facility / producer number
- 04Treatment code: HT, DH, MB or SF
Plus optional DB for debarked. The mark must appear on at least two opposing sides and be permanent — a printed label is not compliant.
Decoded
Waiting for input
Type a stamp on the left — or tap one of the examples — and every element will be broken down here, along with anything the mark is missing.
Reference
Treatment codes in full
Four codes are recognised under ISPM-15. Only two of them are a good idea in 2026.
| Code | Method | Requirement | Practical status |
|---|---|---|---|
| HT | Conventional heat treatment | 56°C core, 30 continuous minutes | The standard. Accepted everywhere. |
| DH | Dielectric heating | 60°C core, 1 continuous minute | Valid, uncommon outside specific mills. |
| MB | Methyl bromide fumigation | Concentration and duration by temperature | In phase-out. Refused by the EU and others. |
| SF | Sulphuryl fluoride | Concentration and duration by temperature | Limited adoption — confirm the destination. |
| DB | Debarked (suffix, not a treatment) | Bark removed | Required by some destinations. |
| KD | Kiln dried — not an ISPM-15 code | Moisture specification only | Does not demonstrate compliance. |
Worked examples
Five real marks, read line by line
The decoder does this automatically. These are here so you can see the reasoning, and recognise the same patterns on wood in front of you.
CA 24 HT DBComplete
Canada · facility 24 · heat treated · debarked. The DB suffix is appended where the destination requires bark removal.
Short facility numbers are normal — they are issued sequentially, not padded.
DE-NW-49123 HTComplete
Germany · North Rhine-Westphalia regional code · facility 49123 · heat treated. Several countries insert a regional segment.
A regional code between the country and the facility number is valid, not an error.
CN 3701 MBCaveat
China · facility 3701 · methyl bromide fumigation. Technically valid under the standard.
The EU and a growing list of destinations refuse MB-treated wood outright. Check before re-exporting on this pallet.
US HTIncomplete
United States · heat treated · no facility number. Incomplete.
A mark without a registered facility number cannot be traced to a treatment and is not compliant.
Reference
ISO country codes you will actually see
The two letters after the wheat symbol identify where the wood was treated — not where the tree grew, and not where the shipment came from.
| Code | Country | Code | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| US | United States | DE | Germany |
| CA | Canada | PL | Poland |
| MX | Mexico | NL | Netherlands |
| BR | Brazil | BE | Belgium |
| CL | Chile | FR | France |
| AR | Argentina | ES | Spain |
| CN | China | IT | Italy |
| VN | Vietnam | PT | Portugal |
| TH | Thailand | GB | United Kingdom |
| MY | Malaysia | IE | Ireland |
| ID | Indonesia | SE | Sweden |
| IN | India | FI | Finland |
| JP | Japan | AT | Austria |
| KR | South Korea | CZ | Czechia |
| TW | Taiwan | RO | Romania |
| TR | Türkiye | HU | Hungary |
| ZA | South Africa | DK | Denmark |
| AU | Australia | NO | Norway |
| NZ | New Zealand | CH | Switzerland |
| RU | Russia | UA | Ukraine |
If the mark fails
What to do next, in order
An incomplete or unacceptable mark is not the end of the shipment. It is a decision point, and the options narrow the later you find it.
- 01
Stop the shipment, not the investigation
A held container costs $400–$2,500 to fumigate on arrival plus demurrage. Catching it on your own dock costs a phone call.
- 02
Establish what is actually wrong
Missing element, unacceptable treatment code, illegible mark, or an intact mark on a pallet repaired with untreated wood. Each has a different remedy.
- 03
Re-treat and re-mark if the wood is sound
The compliant fix for untreated repair or an unacceptable code. Obliterate the superseded mark so there is no ambiguity at inspection.
- 04
Substitute if the wood is not sound
There is no sense treating a pallet that fails structurally next trip. Inspect first, repair with treated stock, then treat.
- 05
Check the rest of the load
If one pallet is wrong, the dunnage, blocking and internal bracing are worth checking too. They are in scope and they are what an inspector sees first.
Questions
About pallet stamps
What do the letters on a pallet stamp mean?
An IPPC mark carries four required elements: the wheat symbol, a two-letter ISO country code, the registered facility or producer number, and a treatment code — HT for heat treatment, DH for dielectric heating, MB for methyl bromide, SF for sulphuryl fluoride. DB may be appended to indicate debarked wood.
Is a pallet without a stamp illegal?
Not for domestic use. ISPM-15 only applies to solid wood packaging crossing an international border, so unmarked pallets are entirely normal in domestic freight. An unmarked pallet on an export shipment, however, will not clear.
Can I trust a stamp that looks correct?
Only if you also know the pallet's repair history. A pallet repaired with untreated wood after treatment carries a mark that is now a false declaration, and it looks perfect. This is the single most common cause of a held container and no visual check can catch it.
What if the stamp says MB?
Methyl bromide is an ozone-depleting substance in global phase-out and is refused outright by the European Union and a growing list of other destinations. The mark is technically valid under the standard; the shipment may still be rejected. Check the destination before it leaves.
Does the stamp need to be on both sides?
It must appear on at least two opposing sides so it is readable regardless of how the pallet sits in a container. It also has to be permanent — branded or stencilled. A printed adhesive label is not compliant.