WPM_programinfo_mod.htm;myeditablediv;myeditablediv2

WPM Program Information

Many questions have been received regarding WPM.  To eliminate some possible confusion the European Emergency Measures and the International Plant Protection Conventions' Guidelines for Regulating Wood Packaging Material in International Trade are not the same documents.

European Emergency Measures on WPM 

These measures were put in place effective October 1, 2001 by the Commission of European Communities and required treatment and marking of all new and used coniferous WPM material originating the United States and shipped to member countries of the European Community.

Adoption of the IPPC Guidelines by the European Union on March 1, 2005 effectively superseded the emergency measures in place on coniferous WPM products.  The latest information regarding the European Union requirements, as well as other countries, can be found on the APHIS website.

International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) Guidelines for Regulating Wood Packaging Material in International Trade

This document provides the basis of the ALSC WPM Program.  The IPPC  adopted these guidelines at their March 2002 meeting in Rome, Italy.  Pursuant to being adopted for use by the member countries, these guidelines will potentially affect more WPM since the IPPC Guidelines have different requirements than the European Emergency Measures.   Currently the IPPC has published the adopted guidelines as ISPM Publication 15 and released the guidelines to the signatory countries for adoption and implementation. 

The guidelines can be accessed through the IPPC web site 

The IPPC logo referenced in ISPM Publication 15 has been incorporated into the quality marks issued by ALSC accredited agencies in the Wood Packaging Material (WPM) program. 

The accredited third-party agencies can provide information regarding becoming licensed to produce compliant WPM under the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) Guidelines for Regulating Wood Packaging Material in International Trade, or to provide information regarding nearby licensed facilities which can supply compliant WPM.  A list of these agencies is available here.  The locations of these agencies are the company headquarters and may not be indicative of their area of service.