The forwarder wants ISPM 15 / an IPPC mark: a CO and a B/L will not fill the wood box

Bottom line:

When a forwarder or buyer asks for ISPM 15 / IPPC, ISPM 15 covers wood packaging in international transport: pallets, crates, dunnage. The mark is applied by an NPPO-authorised treatment facility. It is not a certificate issued for the goods.
Treatment is usually heat treatment HT; methyl bromide MB and dielectric heating DH also exist. A CO, a B/L and the membership year will not fill this box.
Opening a Hong Kong store does not issue a mark. Treatment follows the authorised-facility quote. There is no official site-wide price.

The inquiry says: “Need ISPM 15 / fumigation certificate / IPPC stamp.” Sales staples a certificate of origin, a B/L copy and a Chinese “already fumigated” receipt. The forwarder replies that the pallet has no mark and destination quarantine will not take that paper. The shop floor asks whether to fumigate the whole container again or print a bug mark on the goods.

Which papers this container needs sits on export documents. Who holds the B/L sits on original / telex / sea waybill. How origin is written sits on the CO page. This page only splits the wood-packaging box: where the mark sits, who may apply it, and how it stays apart from the goods.

1. The mark they want sits on the wood

The standard covers solid wood packaging used to carry or protect the goods: pallets, crates, dunnage. An authorised facility treats the wood by heat, methyl bromide or dielectric heating, then applies the IPPC wheat-ear mark: country code, facility code, treatment type. The mark must be legible and durable, on at least two opposite faces.

What they say	What it is	Issued with a Hong Kong store?
ISPM 15 certificate / fumigation cert	Usually the IPPC mark on the pallet or crate; some ports also want the facility paper	No. An intermediary PDF will not match this wood
CO / certificate of origin	Where the goods come from	It will not fill packaging treatment
B/L	Carriage and title	It will not write the HT code
A product pass paper	CE, RoHS, origin	The goods can pass and the pallet can still be held

Ask first whether this shipment is a solid-wood pallet or crate. Plywood, particle board and veneer usually sit outside ISPM 15. Paper slipsheets and plastic pallets sit outside this box. Retitling a luminaire CE for a crate produces the next email asking for pallet photos.

2. The mark sits on this wood, not on “our warehouse passed”

The facility code belongs to an authorised site. A wheat ear painted in the workshop will not be accepted. Reused pallets and repaired lumber whose old mark is covered or whose wood was swapped must be treated and marked again.

Bark, insect holes and untreated dunnage are common reasons a destination hold starts. The mark and the wood must match this container. Do not redate last month’s treatment sheet from another shipment.

Treatment follows the authorised facility and the volume. There is no site-wide official price. Do not lock an “official fumigation fee” into the freight.

3. A CO, a B/L and the store will not fill this box

A CO answers where the goods come from. That is the origin page. Mainland-made goods on a Hong Kong invoice still follow the process, see origin does not become Hong Kong. Wood packaging is another skin.

A B/L answers carriage and release. Writing the Hong Kong company as Shipper does not put a facility mark on the pallet. Membership buys showcases. It does not authorise a treatment facility.

Goods that already have CE or a lab test can still be stopped on the pallet. Do not merge packaging and product into one “certified” letter.

4. How the inquiry can be answered

They write	A usable reply	Do not write
Send ISPM 15 certificate.	ISPM 15 sits on the wood packaging, marked by an authorised facility. We will provide the facility paper and mark photos for this pallet. Product files stay separate.	Retitle a CO or an “already fumigated” receipt.
You have a CO / B/L, so wood is done.	The CO writes the goods. The B/L writes carriage. Wood packaging wants the IPPC mark. Three boxes.	Documents mean the whole phytosanitary pack.
Put ISPM certified on your store.	Without a matching authorised-facility mark, the showcase will not say certified.	Write it first so inquiries convert.
How much is the official fumigation fee?	There is no site-wide official price. Authorised facilities quote by volume and method. Opening the store does not include it.	Lock an “official fumigation fee” into the freight.

Do not write “already fumigated” or “ISPM certified” on a showcase. You can say the seller is a Hong Kong company, that solid-wood packaging goes through an authorised facility, that the mark sits on the pallet or crate, and that it stays apart from the product file.

5. If you already replied “we have a fumigation certificate”

Tell sales and the forwarder the same day: prices that say “fumigated / certified” stop.
Open this container: is it solid wood, is the mark on it, can the facility code be checked, and does the destination want a separate paper.
Keep the CO, the B/L and the product files as their own sheets. Do not merge and retitle.
Match this container’s wood. Do not hand the master account to an intermediary to “make a certificate.”
If the goods are already moving: send mark photos or the facility paper. Do not invent a treatment number on the manifest.

The membership still buys the file and the showcases. Wire it to ALIBABA.COM HONG KONG LIMITED. Corpable does not treat wood or apply the mark. What destination quarantine asks for follows their process that day. Do not write a penalty figure into the contract.

Questions teams actually ask

Is an ISPM 15 certificate something you buy from customs?

No. ISPM 15 is International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures No. 15. It covers wood packaging in international transport. An authorised facility treats the wood and applies the IPPC mark. There is no central body that issues a wood-packaging pass paper for the product itself.

If we have a CO / B/L, do we already have IPPC?

No. A certificate of origin says where the goods come from. A bill of lading names the carrier. Wood packaging wants the treatment-facility mark on the pallet or crate. The three boxes do not stand in for each other.

Do plywood pallets and paper slipsheets need ISPM 15?

The standard covers solid wood packaging. Plywood, particle board and veneer are usually excluded. Paper slipsheets and plastic pallets sit outside this box. Ask first whether this shipment uses solid wood.

Does opening Alibaba.com on a Hong Kong company already give us IPPC?

No. The membership buys showcases. It does not authorise a treatment facility or stamp a pallet. Goods dispatched from Hong Kong on mainland-made pallets still take the mark at the site that treated the wood.

May the showcase say “fumigated / ISPM certified”?

Not without a matching authorised-facility mark. Treatment follows the facility quote. There is no site-wide official price. Writing “certified” will be screenshotted back when they ask for photos of this pallet.

Can Corpable stamp IPPC for us, or guarantee release at destination?

No. An advisor can sit with you on whether this shipment is solid wood and whether they want HT or another treatment. We do not treat wood, apply the mark or promise phytosanitary clearance. Membership still wires to ALIBABA.COM HONG KONG LIMITED.