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Strict rules banning the 'wrong kind of pallet' could lead to knock-on problems here post-Brexit

Strict global rules designed to stop the spread of beetles and other pests currently govern use of pallets.

A UK-WIDE SHORTAGE of the ‘right kind’ of pallet for the import and export of goods could lead to knock on effects for Irish companies in the event of a no-deal Brexit, businesses here are being told. 

A crisis meeting was held in the UK this week between the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and distributors on how to keep goods on the road in the event of a no-deal Brexit at the end of this month. 

Strict globally-agreed rules known as ISPM15, designed to stop the spread of bark beetles and other insects, currently govern the use of pallets and other wood packaging worldwide.

The standard, which requires all such packaging to be heat-treated in order to eradicate pests, was introduced 15 years ago. 

At the moment the EU is treated as a single country, so packaging that does not meet the ISPM15 standard is allowed to move freely between member states. 

That would all change in the event of a no-deal, as the UK would then be treated as a third country – essentially being put on the same footing as India or China. 

“In the event of no deal, all WPM [wood packaging material] moving between the UK and the EU must meet ISPM15 international standards by undergoing heat treatment and marking,” Defra said in a notice last week.

“All WPM may be subject to official checks either upon or after entry to the EU.”

The notice was met with concern by freight and haulage operators according to The Guardian, which reported that only an estimated one third of pallets used for trade between the EU and UK complied with the standard. 

Business Insider reported that the UK government was planning emergency talks on the issue. Industry figures who spoke to the website said they were baffled as to why it took ministers so long to get to grips with the situation. 

Ireland 

Here at home, the Revenue and Customs service has been informing businesses of potential issues with mismatched pallets at a series of Brexit seminars held throughout the country in recent months.

“Capacity may be an issue if at short notice the UK is required to use ISPM15 compliant wood packaging for all their exports,” attendees were told, according to a presentation shown at the seminars.

The National Standards Authority of Ireland, which certifies pallets and other wood packaging produced in Ireland, has been aware of potential problems in the sector since last autumn and has produced a factsheet on the issue for companies here. 

Non-compliance with ISPM15 is one of the biggest reasons for sending back goods that arrive at Dublin Port, Fergal O’Byrne, head of the NSAI’s Brexit unit, explained. 

“If a product is being shipped into Ireland from China or India, when customs people open the container at the dock one of the first things they will do is look to see if the wood packaging has the ISPM15 stamp embedded on it.”

If it’s not properly certified “they seal it back up and send it back”.

The same standards will apply to UK-based exporters in the event of a no-deal. O’Byrne said Irish companies could face problems if stray, non-compliant pallets are sent back as part of a return shipment. 

“The issue is I could send a container with 20 pallets off to England but the same 20 pallets may not come back. The driver of the forklift might get them mixed up, so you might get 19 back and a stray one.

So the problem is pallets could come back that were not marked, and that would be a big concern. And of course if a load came back with 19 marked and one not marked we could see the whole load being rejected.

He said that most pallet manufacturers here are compliant with the scheme, which is implemented in Ireland by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

The NSAI is advising that the UK may introduce reciprocal arrangements requiring EU exporters to ensure all wood packaging arriving from member states is compliant with the international standard. 

O’Byrne said that while a deal between the EU and UK may still be reached in the coming weeks, the agency was continuing to brief companies on what would happen in the event of a no-deal.

The NSAI has also been holding information sessions on the potential impacts of Brexit, and will hold events for the construction sector in Dublin and Cork later this month.

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    Mute Seán C
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    Mar 2nd 2019, 11:04 AM

    Won’t someone please think of those kindly, definitely not bigoted orangemen. What are they going to do for their culture fires in July?

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    Mute Tweety McTweeter
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    Mar 2nd 2019, 11:11 AM

    @Seán C: Those weren’t culture fires. They were heat treating the pallets for pests

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    Mute Seán C
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    Mar 2nd 2019, 11:15 AM

    @Tweety McTweeter: bravo sir!

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    Mute John Cotter
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    Mar 2nd 2019, 11:18 AM

    @Tweety McTweeter: always thought to was part of the cash for ash scheme

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    Mute Shelly Levine
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    Mar 2nd 2019, 12:08 PM

    @Tweety McTweeter: Green is the new orange?

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    Mute Patrick Nolan
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    Mar 2nd 2019, 11:06 AM

    Non compliant pallets…… Learn something new every day!

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    Mute George Weener
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    Mar 2nd 2019, 11:07 AM

    I have seen metal and plastic pallets…. Thay dont need to use wood… More scaremongering!

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    Mute Vocal Outrage
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    Mar 2nd 2019, 11:11 AM

    @George Weener: the vast majority of pallets are wooden though. Compliant ones will be manufactured, but due to the late notice it would take a few months to get adequate supplies, so not scaremongering, rather a genuine concern

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    Mute Fr. Fintan Stack
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    Mar 2nd 2019, 11:17 AM

    @George Weener: Plastic pallets on the queyside, in run down warehouses, etc. Yeah, great idea alright.

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    Mute Denis Moynihan
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    Mar 2nd 2019, 11:18 AM

    @George Weener: Have you checked the availability and cost of the alternatives before declaring it as scaremongering?

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    Mute Brianto
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    Mar 2nd 2019, 11:27 AM

    @Vocal Outrage: late notice? They’ve had 3 years!!!!

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    Mute George Weener
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    Mar 2nd 2019, 11:34 AM

    @Denis Moynihan: I have read about a new start up company in Ireland that is making pallets from recycled plastic. Hopefully they will get a good kick start from this problem. It will create irish jobs and get rid of some of our landfill plastic packaging.

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    Mute Vocal Outrage
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    Mar 2nd 2019, 11:44 AM

    @Brianto: oh, I agree, by the late notice I meant the fact that the British authorities only flagged this in the UK in the last few weeks, it had been noted in Ireland long before that, but no-one actually acted upon it as the respective governments both kept saying a deal would be struck

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    Mute Niallers
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    Mar 2nd 2019, 12:24 PM

    @George Weener: More expensive. Adds to the cost of doing business.

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    Mute Barry Whelan
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    Mar 2nd 2019, 4:31 PM

    @George Weener: Plastic pallets are rubbish. Doesn’t take much force to break them,they slide on trailer floors and forklifts. Not commonly used at all.

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    Mute EillieEs
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    Mar 3rd 2019, 2:41 AM

    @George Weener: plastic pallets cost about five times more than wooden but can take only half the weight.

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    Mute TamuMassif2019
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    Mar 2nd 2019, 12:53 PM

    Every 12th July little gits burn the blue pallets up North, so who in businesses pay for those pallets and why does the police up there not take them back as ALL blue pallets ARE stolen property. It proves the police up there support stolen property being destroyed as well as ignore it being stolen as blue pallets are blue because they are rented pallets by companies.

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    Mute Patrick Nolan
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    Mar 2nd 2019, 2:09 PM

    @TamuMassif2019:
    The losses to business because of the riots caused by any attempt to take back the pallets would be far greater than the value of the pallets.

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    Mute TamuMassif2019
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    Mar 2nd 2019, 11:28 PM

    @Patrick Nolan: Wait until waste burning laws comes in lol.

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    Mute Ben Jamen
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    Mar 2nd 2019, 11:04 AM

    That’s going to cause a lot of problems in the retail industry alone.

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    Mute Paul Murphy
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    Mar 2nd 2019, 12:35 PM

    Pellets / pallets….the DUP must be hysterical

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    Mute Liam Dunne
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    Mar 2nd 2019, 1:08 PM

    @seamus Murphy. Have you any idea how big a problem this could be? Almost everything that moves nowadays moves on pallets. This would add enormous expense to everything here in Ireland and add huge delays.

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    Mute Donal Desmond
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    Mar 2nd 2019, 11:49 AM

    Anyone hear of the 12th July…

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    Mute Seamus Murphy
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    Mar 2nd 2019, 12:07 PM

    I’d say if that’s the biggest problem with Brexit we won’t be too bad.

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    Mute Michael Maher
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    Mar 2nd 2019, 3:30 PM

    More bull….

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    Mute Ben Jamen
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    Mar 2nd 2019, 11:03 AM

    That’s

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    Mute Mill Lane
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    Mar 2nd 2019, 5:23 PM

    Let me guess the Brit’s can’t decide on what to rename the Euro pallets so they will want to kick the cam down the road for another few months.

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    Mute Cathal
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    Mar 2nd 2019, 8:49 PM

    @Mill Lane: Euro pallet isn’t used that much, standard 4×5 foot pallet is the commonest.

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    Mute Tom Doyle
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    Mar 2nd 2019, 6:38 PM

    Ah nearly there now once the Pallets are sorted.

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    Mute Darren Swords
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    Mar 2nd 2019, 7:27 PM

    The UK already has a different pallet, the euro pallet is 800 x 1200mm which is the industry standard & the UK pallet is 1200 x 1000mm.
    Always wondered why they had to have a different pallet.

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    Mute Cathal
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    Mar 2nd 2019, 8:54 PM

    @Darren Swords: There are multiple pallet sizes ,The DD or Dusseldorf pallet which is half the size of a europallet is also quite common. USA and Canada also use the UK standard pallet.

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