Are All CHEP Pallets Heat Treated? What Exporters Need to Know

Most wooden CHEP pallets are heat-treated to ISPM 15 and carry the HT-branded IPPC stamp — but not every CHEP pallet in circulation is. CHEP also operates a large plastic-pallet pool (which is not subject to ISPM 15 at all) and, in some markets, wooden pallets in its domestic-only pool that are not exported and therefore may not be HT-marked. If you plan to put your goods on a CHEP pallet for an international shipment, always check the pallet itself for a legible IPPC mark ending in HT before loading.

CHEP is one of the world's largest pallet pool operators, so a lot of exporters end up using its blue wooden pallets — often on the assumption that "it's CHEP, it must be compliant." That is *usually* true, but not universally. This guide explains exactly how CHEP treats its wooden pool, what to check, and what to do if you receive a pallet without an HT stamp.

What CHEP actually is

CHEP (a division of Brambles Limited) runs a pallet-pooling service: customers rent pallets in and out of a shared pool rather than buying them outright. The pool contains hundreds of millions of pallets globally, in a mix of wood and plastic, in several regional formats — most visibly the blue-painted wooden Euro pallet (1200 × 800 mm) and the blue 1200 × 1000 mm export pallet.

Because CHEP owns the pallets, it also owns the maintenance and treatment programme.

The ISPM 15 status of CHEP's wooden pool

CHEP's own compliance position

CHEP publishes that its wooden pallets used for international movements are manufactured and repaired under ISPM 15 heat-treatment programmes registered with the relevant national plant protection authority (in Sri Lanka, the NPQS; in the UK, Forestry Commission; in the US, ALSC). Pallets in that pool carry the burned IPPC mark including the HT treatment abbreviation.

In practice this means the great majority of CHEP wooden pallets you will encounter in an export environment are heat-treated and IPPC-stamped.

Where it gets fuzzy

Three things can trip exporters up:

1. Plastic CHEP pallets are outside ISPM 15 entirely. ISPM 15 only applies to wooden packaging. If your CHEP pallet is plastic, no HT stamp is needed and none will be present — but that is not a compliance problem. Plastic is exempt.

2. Domestic-pool wooden pallets in some regions are not always HT-marked. In markets where CHEP runs separate domestic and export pools, a wooden pallet from a purely domestic rotation might not carry the HT stamp. If that pallet is diverted to an export shipment, it becomes non-compliant.

3. Repaired components have to be re-treated and re-stamped. A CHEP wooden pallet whose damaged deck board or block was replaced without the pallet being re-treated is technically non-compliant, regardless of the stamp burned into the original stringer.

The safe rule is: the stamp on the pallet is the source of truth, not the brand painted on it.

How to verify a CHEP pallet is export-compliant

Before you load, look at the actual pallet:

1. Find the IPPC mark. On CHEP wooden pallets it is normally burned into at least two opposite stringers.

2. Confirm all four components are present: the IPPC wheat-sheaf symbol, the country code (LK, GB, DE, etc.), the producer registration number, and the treatment code — which must read HT for it to be accepted in the EU and UK.

3. Reject anything stamped MB for EU-bound cargo. Methyl bromide fumigation has not been accepted for wooden packaging entering the EU since 2010.

4. Reject any pallet with an illegible or damaged stamp, or one that has been repaired without a fresh HT re-stamp.

For a full walkthrough of what each part of the mark means, see How to Read the IPPC Stamp on a Wooden Pallet.

When a CHEP pallet is *not* the right answer

CHEP pooling is convenient, but a hired pallet is not always the best choice for a Sri Lankan exporter:

In those cases, buying purpose-built ISPM 15 heat-treated pallets from a local NPQS-registered manufacturer is usually simpler and cheaper per shipment.

CHEP vs buying your own ISPM 15 pallets

| Aspect | CHEP pooled pallet | Own ISPM 15 pallet |

|---|---|---|

| Ownership | Rented from CHEP pool | Owned by you |

| ISPM 15 compliance | Usually yes (verify HT stamp) | Yes, guaranteed by manufacturer |

| Custom sizing | No — pool sizes only | Yes — built to your carton |

| Best for | Regular EU / US lanes on CHEP-served routes | Custom cargo, non-CHEP destinations, project shipments |

| Per-shipment economics | Rental fees each cycle | One-time cost per pallet |

Bottom line for Sri Lankan exporters

Most wooden CHEP pallets in an export lane are heat-treated to ISPM 15 and carry the HT stamp — but "most" is not the same as "all". Always inspect the actual IPPC mark on the actual pallet before loading, especially if the pallet has been repaired, is from a mixed pool, or is bound for the EU or UK.

If you would rather not gamble on a pool pallet's history, CeyPall (Pvt) Ltd manufactures NPQS-registered ISPM 15 heat-treated pallets in Kochchikade, in every standard international size and to custom dimensions, with a heat-treatment certificate for every batch and island-wide delivery.