Technical Wood is made of original tropical hard wood fibres that undergo a high-pressure and high-temperature steaming process. An engineer compress wood namely Technical Wood. It is also the trade mark of LHT Holdings Ltd.

International Standards for phytosanitary measures (ISPMs) are prepared by the Secretariat of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) as part of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organizations global programme of policy and technical assistance in plant quarantine. The IPPC is an international treaty relating to plant health to which approximately 124 governments currently adhere. The purpose of the IPPC is to secure common and effective action to prevent the spread and introduction of pests of plants and plant products, and to promote appropriate measures for their control.

ISPM 15 was developed to address the global spread of timber pests by regulating the movement of timber packing and dunnage in international trade. ISPM 15 describes phytosanitary measures to reduce the risk of introduction and/or spread of quarantine pests associated with solid timber packing material (includes dunnage).

ISPM 15 does not apply to packing material made exclusively from manufactured processed wood products such as plywood, chipboard, fibreboard, oriented strand board (OSB),compressed wood and medium density fibreboard (MDF). These are products that are a composite of wood constructed using glue, heat and pressure, or any combination thereof should be considered sufficiently processed to have eliminated the risk associated with the raw wood. It is unlikely to be infested by raw wood pests during its use and therefore should not be regulated unless technically justified.

From Page 5 of IPPC/ISPMs Publication No15 Guidelines for regulating wood packaging material in international trade…. Definitions & Abbreviations:

Treatment with a chemical agent that reaches the commodity wholly or primarily in a gaseous state.

The process in which a commodity is heated until it reaches a minimum temperature for a minimum period of time according to an officially recognized specification.

A process in which wood is dried in a closed chamber using heat and/or humidity control to achieve a require content.

Products that are a composite of wood constructed using glue, heat and pressure, or any combination thereof [ISPM Pub.No.15,2002]

From Page 6 of IPPC/ISPMs Publication No15 Guidelines for regulating wood packaging material in international trade…. Definitions & Abbreviations:

A pest of economic importance to the area endangered thereby and not yet present there, or present but not widely distributed and being officially controlled [FAO,1990; revised FAO, 1995; IPPC 1997}

which has not undergone processing or treatment

Officially authorized procedure for the killing or removal of pests or rendering pests infertile [FAO, 1990; revised FAO,1995; ISPM Pub. No. 15, 2002]

A commodity class for round wood, sawn wood, wood chips or dunnage, with or without bark.

Wood or wood products (excluding paper products) used in supporting, protecting or carrying a commodity (includes dunnage).

On September 16 2005, the U.S., in cooperation with Mexico and Canada, began enforcement of the international phytosanitary standard (ISPM 15) for regulated Wood Packaging Material (WPM) entering the United States.  U.S.Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently announced they will perform phased-in compliance enforcement of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) WPM regulation, as follows:

Phase I September 16, 2005 through January 31, 2006.
This phase of the WPM implementation will consist of an informed compliance initiative relative to CBP efforts to implement and enforce the WPM rule.  There will be no stoppage or re export of shipments for non-compliant WPM.

Phase II February 1, 2006 through July 4, 2006.
This phase will continue informed compliance measures on all regulated WPM except pallets and crates.  CBP will begin full enforcement of the ban on violative pallets and crates.

Phase III July 5, 2006, and beyond.
Full Enforcement begins on all articles of regulated Wood Packing Materials entering the U.S. and North America. Non-compliant regulated WPM will not be allowed to enter the U.S.