No Red or Orange

ALSC has been informed by APHIS that a complaint was received from an importing country that WPM produced under the ALSC WPM program was observed with the ISPM 15 markings in red ink. As a reminder, ISPM 15 states in Annex 2 that "The use of red or orange should be avoided because these colors are used in the labeling of dangerous goods." We have been asked to review this with each facility and as ALSC states "prohibit the use of red or orange ink as future shipments may be turned down." Black is the preferred color of ink to use for ISPM 15 marking.

Section 5.6.10 of the Wood Packaging Material Enforcement Regulations states in part: "When ISPM 15 quality marked wood packaging material is repaired the existing ISPM 15 quality marks shall be obliterated." ALSC states that this means "that all previous ISPM 15 quality marks shall be obliterated from all components used in the reassembly of the WPM unit."

ALSC also states that "obliteration of ISPM 15 marks applies not only to a WPM manufacturer on site but also applies to situations where that WPM manufacturer is aware the WPM has been repaired. Examples include sending WPM offsite to another facility to facilitate repair, bringing in WPM from a supplier known to be a repair operation, and receiving WPM from sister facilities repairing WPM. In effect, any WPM known to have been repaired shall have original IPPC quality marks removed." Once the WPM has been retreated, the treater's IPPC mark can be applied to certify conformance in the ISPM 15 program.