One commentator has summed up Brexit as “The undefined negotiated by the unprepared to get the unspecified for the uninformed”. No one knows with certainty what future border arrangements will entail but what we do know is that the border, as we currently know it will change – by how much has yet to be answered. Even if the UK were to achieve a Free Trade Agreement with the EU, it will still become a “Third Country” outside the EU.
The EU requires that all imports from third countries that have wooden packaging must conform to the requirements of ISPM15 – the International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures No 15. This could technically mean that, post-Brexit, all wooden packaging imported to and exported from the UK must be treated in accordance with ISPM15.
ISPM15 is a measure developed by the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) that directly addresses the need to treat wood materials of a thickness greater than 6mm used to ship products between countries. Its main purpose is to prevent the international transport and spread of disease and insects that could negatively affect plants or ecosystems. ISPM15 affects all wooden packaging material (pallets, crates, dunnages and so on) requiring that they be debarked and then heat-treated and stamped or branded with a mark of compliance, colloquially known as the “wheat stamp”.
Almost 80% of Ireland’s timber output is imported by the UK. Here at CJ Sheeran (CJS) we are planning ahead and with the recent installation and commissioning of additional state-of-the-art kilns, we have increased our kiln drying and ISPM15 heat-treatment capacity to more than 30,000 pallets per week. We manufacture the pallets, heat-treat the pallets and ship direct to the UK.
All the kilns are fully inspected and approved for ISPM15 heat treatments by the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI). The kilns also undergo rigorous calibration and preventative maintenance schedules and are subject to regular unannounced inspections by both the NSAI and Forest Service of Ireland to ensure that they are in the best condition at all times.
“Expert kiln drying methodologies, modern kilns and rigorous and robust quality systems are critical when it comes to correctly reducing moisture content in timber pallets so as to prevent mould growth as well as ensuring complete compliance with the ISPM15 heat-treatment standard”, said Fergal Moran, our business development director.
The kiln drying and heat-treatment process at CJS is also a very environmentally friendly and green process. Residues from the pallet manufacturing and pallet repair divisions are converted into a clean biofuel, which powers the bioheat boilers, in turn heating the kilns.
In terms of current market conditions, Ireland’s timber industry is subject to the same pressures on supply as the rest of the world and prices for both logs and sawn timber are on the rise. The squeeze on supply started several months ago and pallet prices have in turn increased. We have good security of supply of timber and are working in close conjunction with our suppliers and customers to relay that security of supply and to ensure that there are absolutely no stoppages at any of our customers’ production lines.
We have also successfully worked through a number of collaboration projects from process improvement to product redesign, resulting in greater efficiencies from both cost and production perspectives. We also offer alternatives to new pallets with recycled, reselected and hybrid options.
CJS supplies major multi-national bluechip companies across a broad range of industries from food and drink, pharmaceutical, medical device, agri-business, technological and general manufacturing and has specialised in kiln drying and ISPM15 heat treatments since 2002. CJS is Ireland’s only pallet manufacturing company to hold all three core ISO certifications: ISO9001, ISO14001 and OHSAS18001 as well as FSC certification.
