Export Packaging, Pallets and Shipping Marks: A Practical Guide

Export packaging done right: cartons, pallets, crates, ISPM 15 wood rules, securing loads, shipping marks and ISO 780 handling symbols, with an example.

Goods that leave your factory in perfect condition can arrive broken, wet, crushed or infested. On the way, a carton may be lifted, dropped, stacked under two tonnes, shaken for weeks at sea, heated in the sun on a quay and cooled at night, then handled again at a transshipment port. Export packaging is what stands between that journey and a damage claim.

Packaging is also a legal and documentary matter. Wood must comply with the international phytosanitary standard ISPM 15, and every package must carry marks that match the packing list, the invoice and, under a letter of credit, the bank's requirements. Damage caused by insufficient packing is excluded from cargo insurance, so a weak carton is a risk you carry alone.

This lesson covers choosing packaging for the hazards of the route, pallets and crates, ISPM 15, securing cargo inside the container, and the shipping marks and handling symbols to put on each package. A worked example follows a container of sanitary ware to France.

What hazards must export packaging withstand?

The packaging must fit the most difficult leg of the journey, not the easiest one. LCL cargo, air freight and shipments with transshipments need more protection than an FCL container travelling directly. The FCL vs LCL lesson explains why.

Cartons, pallets and crates

Cartons

Corrugated cartons are the standard transport packaging. For export, use double-wall board for heavy or stacked goods, and size the carton so the product does not move inside. Check the carton's compression strength against the weight it will carry: a carton at the bottom of a 2-metre stack may bear several hundred kilos for weeks, and corrugated board loses a large part of its strength in humid conditions.

Pallets

Good palletising rules: no overhang beyond the pallet edge, cartons stacked in columns for maximum strength (or interlocked for stability when weight allows), corner boards, strapping and stretch film, and a top sheet against dust and water. Keep the pallet height compatible with the container door and, where possible, with double stacking. The shipping containers lesson gives pallet counts per container.

Crates and cases

Machinery, heavy parts and fragile items such as glass or marble travel in wooden crates or cases. They need skids for forklifts, marked lifting points and centre of gravity, and internal blocking so the item cannot move. If made of solid wood, they fall under ISPM 15.

ISPM 15: the rules for wood packaging

ISPM 15, the International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures No. 15 of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), aims to stop pests travelling in wood packaging. Most countries apply it to imports. It covers pallets, crates, cases, drums, cable reels, dunnage and any other packaging made of solid wood thicker than 6 mm.

The wood must be debarked and treated by an approved method:

• HT, heat treatment: the wood core reaches at least 56 °C for at least 30 continuous minutes;
• DH, dielectric heating: at least 60 °C throughout the wood profile for at least 1 minute;
• MB, methyl bromide fumigation: still allowed by the standard but banned or being phased out in many countries because it damages the ozone layer; prefer heat treatment.

Treated wood carries the ISPM 15 mark: the IPPC wheat-ear symbol, the ISO country code (for example DZ for Algeria), a producer or treatment provider number issued by the national plant protection organisation, and the treatment code (HT, DH or MB).

Exempt: packaging made wholly of processed wood (plywood, particle board, OSB, veneer), wood 6 mm thick or less, and non-wood materials such as plastic, metal or cardboard pallets.

Securing the cargo in the container

Most transport damage comes from cargo moving inside the box. The IMO/ILO/UNECE Code of Practice for Packing of Cargo Transport Units (CTU Code) sets out good practice:

• distribute weight evenly along the floor, with the centre of gravity near the middle of the length;
• put heavy items at the bottom and light ones on top;
• fill gaps with dunnage, airbags or bracing so nothing can slide;
• lash heavy items to the container's lashing points;
• never exceed the container's payload or the floor's concentrated load limits;
• close the doors on a stable load; a load leaning against the doors can fall on whoever opens them.

Shipping marks: what to write on each package

Shipping marks identify each package and link it to its documents. The UN/ECE Recommendation No. 15 standard shipping mark has four elements, in this order:

1. Consignee: the initials or an abbreviated name of the consignee or buyer (no full address, for security);
2. Reference: the order, contract, invoice or letter of credit number;
3. Destination: the port or place of final destination, with the transit port if useful ("LYON VIA MARSEILLE");
4. Package number: the number of the package out of the total ("7/20").

Add information marks as needed: gross and net weight, dimensions, country of origin ("MADE IN ALGERIA"), and any marking the buyer or the destination country requires.

Rules for marks:

• marks must match exactly the packing list and the commercial invoice, and the letter of credit if it specifies marks;
• use waterproof ink or printed labels, in capitals, legible from a few metres;
• mark at least two adjacent sides of each package, and every carton in LCL shipments;
• remove or cover old marks on reused packaging.

Handling symbols (ISO 780)

ISO 780 defines pictograms understood worldwide, such as: fragile, this way up, keep dry, keep away from heat, do not stack, centre of gravity, clamp here, sling here, do not use hand hooks, and temperature limits. Use only those that apply, and do not rely on them alone: handlers do not always respect them, so the packaging must still be strong enough.

Dangerous goods labels and marks are a separate, mandatory system (see dangerous goods). Never use them for non-dangerous goods.

Worked example: sanitary ware to Lyon

A ceramics manufacturer in eastern Algeria ships 360 washbasins and 180 toilet bowls to a bathroom distributor in Lyon, by sea to Marseille and then by truck. The cargo goes in one 40' high cube.

Packaging decisions:

• each piece in its own double-wall carton with moulded pulp inserts;
• 20 heat-treated pallets of 120 × 100 cm stamped DZ, HT and the producer's number, loaded on one tier because the cartons cannot bear a second pallet;
• each pallet 1.90 m high, with corner boards, two straps and stretch film, gross weight about 610 kg;
• airbags between the last pallets and the doors.

Marks on two sides of each pallet and on each carton:

Export packaging checklist

• Packaging chosen for the hardest leg of the journey (handling, climate, transshipment).
• Cartons strong enough for the stacking height and humidity.
• Pallets of the right size for the container and the market; no overhang.
• All solid wood ISPM 15 treated and marked.
• Load secured in the container under the CTU Code; photos taken.
• Shipping marks on each package, consistent with the packing list, invoice and letter of credit.
• Handling symbols where relevant; dangerous goods labels only for dangerous goods.
• Packaging specification kept on file for any claim under your cargo insurance.

Common mistakes in packaging and marking

• Using domestic packaging for export.
• Untreated or unmarked wooden pallets, or pallets repaired with untreated wood.
• Marks that differ from the documents, or numbering that does not match the number of packages.
• Wet pallets or cartons loaded on a rainy day, followed by mould and container rain.
• Product names and brands on cartons of theft-prone goods.
• Leaving gaps in the container and relying on the "fragile" label.