Packing, Labelling and Shipping Marks — Including the ISPM 15 Pallet Rule

An untreated wooden pallet can cost you more than your entire freight bill. Under New Zealand's Biosecurity Act, MPI can order non-compliant wood packaging treated, destroyed or re-exported — at your expense — and your goods sit in limbo while it happens. Packing and labelling feel like the boring end of importing, but they're where careless orders bleed money at the border. Here's what to specify, and when.

ISPM 15: the pallet rule that catches Kiwis out

All wood packaging entering NZ — pallets, crates, dunnage — must comply with ISPM 15: heat treatment at 56°C for 30 minutes, or fumigation, evidenced by the stamped mark showing the country and producer code on the wood itself.

Your job is one line in the purchase order: "All wood packaging must be ISPM 15 compliant and stamped." Then have your pre-shipment inspection confirm the stamps exist. A factory that ships on cheap untreated pallets isn't saving you money; it's buying you treatment or destruction costs and days of delay at a transitional facility. If in doubt, plastic pallets sidestep the issue entirely (check they're clean — MPI cares about soil contamination too).

Why marking matters at all

Export markings aren't decoration. They exist to meet shipping regulations, ensure proper handling, conceal the contents' identity from opportunistic hands, help receivers identify shipments, and satisfy environmental and safety rules. Every one of those failures has a cost attached.

Export carton markings: the checklist

Specify these in your PO and have the supplier mirror them on the packing list and invoice:

• Shipper's mark (your reference)
• Country of origin — "CHINA"
• Weight in kilograms (include pounds if the carton may transit US-linked logistics)
• Number of packages and case dimensions in centimetres
• International handling pictograms and safety marks like "This Side Up" in English
• Port of entry (e.g., Auckland or Tauranga)
• A short product description

Apply markings on three faces of each carton — the top plus two sides or ends. A carton marked on one face is unreadable the moment it's stacked the wrong way round in a container.

Country-of-origin labelling on packages is strictly enforced in many markets, and your freight forwarder or an export packing specialist will know the current requirements — ask them when unsure rather than guessing.

Carton quality: borrow the big-retailer spec

Large retail buyers impose packing standards worth stealing selectively even as a small importer:

• Double-ply export cartons that pass a drop test on at least three cartons
• Maximum 25 kg gross weight per carton — heavier boxes get dropped, dragged and damaged (and your own back will thank you at the warehouse end)
• Carton footprints matched to pallet dimensions with no overhang — overhanging cartons carry load badly and arrive crushed

Put your chosen requirements in the PO. Suppliers default to whatever's cheapest unless told otherwise.

Rating labels and gift-box labels

Rating labels are the on-product data labels — the sewn-in tag on textiles, the specification plate on electronics. Suppliers usually hold templates; you supply the correct content. For anything electrical or wireless sold in NZ, this is where compliance meets the customer: make sure the label content lines up with what our Electricity (Safety) Regulations and Radio Spectrum Management rules require for your product type — and check the current specifics with a test lab or on the regulators' sites before you print thousands of them.

Gift-box and retail labels vary by sales channel and destination, so specify them at order time. A good supplier proactively asks about labelling once the PO lands; a silent one is a supplier you chase.

Lithium batteries: special case, every time

Products with lithium batteries — installed or shipped separately — carry special packaging, labelling and documentation requirements, and some transport modes bar them outright. Confirm the rules with your courier or forwarder before ordering, not after the shipment is refused. This applies to samples too: some battery products can't travel by ordinary airmail at all.

One printer, one colour standard

If your packaging is printed across multiple items or reorders, have all of it printed at the same printing factory, and supply artwork files plus Pantone colour codes. Different printers mean visible colour drift between batches — the kind of thing retail buyers notice instantly and customers read as "fake."

Key takeaways

• Put ISPM 15 compliance in your PO and verify the stamps at inspection — MPI treats, destroys or re-exports non-compliant wood at your cost.
• Mark cartons on three faces with origin, weights, dimensions, handling marks and port of entry.
• Cap cartons at 25 kg, demand drop-tested double-ply board, and match footprints to pallets.
• Lithium batteries and rating labels have their own rule sets — confirm before production, not at the border.

Related: MPI Biosecurity: Getting Through the NZ Border Without Nasty Surprises, NZ Product Compliance: Electrical, Wireless, Toys and Safety Standards

Figure: The packing and labelling items to specify in your PO and verify at inspection.