Our Mission Statement
TP provides superior quality assurance programs and services to the forest products industry. This is accomplished by providing timely, cost effective services, thorough and accurate inspections, and exemplary customer service.
TP provides superior quality assurance programs and services to the forest products industry. This is accomplished by providing timely, cost effective services, thorough and accurate inspections, and exemplary customer service.
Success in never final, failure is never fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.
Winston Churchill
A "pass-through" pallet is defined as a previously used pallet that has not been repaired by the facility and shows no signs of previous repair. Because of this, a facility can segregate and ship these pallets without any issue as long as the proper potocol is followed. A written procedure needs to be created which should also include a map or description of where the "pass-through" pallets will be staged once they are classified as such. "Pass-through" pallets must meet the same requirements as any other IPPC marked WPM so the facility must ensure these pallets meet all ALSC requirements for bark and mark legibility. Once these pallets are placed in their defined "pass-through" staging area they are subject to agency review for ISPM 15 conformance.
Heat treating is the process where wood is treated with heat for a prescribed period of time to kill any pests that are identified by ISPM 15 as harmful to trees in non-native countries. These are typically insects like beetles and nematodes that can kill a tree by attacking various areas in the tree that allow it to grow and survive. Ants and spiders do not fit into this category and so they are not on the list.
When lumber is heat treated (HT), it is done so to prepare it for use in a variety of applications including the production of WPM that may receive the IPPC mark. Since HT lumber is not exclusively used to build wood packaging material receiving the IPPC mark, it is not specifically required to meet the bark requirements for ISPM 15 conformance. As a result, facilities may see HT lumber coming into their facility with bark that will need to be removed to meet ALSC requirements for ISPM 15 before applying their IPPC mark.
When a WPM facility receives surfaced HT lumber, each piece should have a full HT mark on it. This mark will have:
If this information is not marked on each piece, inbound "HT" lumber cannot be used in the production of ISPM 15 conforming WPM unless it is treated after it arrives. Also, it cannot be documented as HT lumber received in the facility's records. Understanding the parameters that define heat treated lumber will help a facility to utilize it properly and proactively address improperly marked material before it is inventoried.