Wood packaging import rules: Belarus

ISPM 15 on imports

Required

Enforced since

—

Treatments

HT, MB, DH, SF per ISPM 15

Plant protection authority

State Plant Quarantine Inspectorate (Ministry of Agriculture and Food)

Common pallet sizes

1200 × 800 mm (EUR)
1200 × 1000 mm

Main ports

Brest (rail/road border with Poland), Minsk (airport and logistics hub), Orsha (rail hub), Kozlovichi (Brest, border logistics)

Overview

Belarus requires wood packaging in imports to be treated and marked under ISPM 15, in addition to common phytosanitary rules of the Eurasian Economic Union. The IPPC lists the State Plant Quarantine Inspectorate, under the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, as the national plant protection organisation. I did not verify the national act or when ISPM 15 enforcement started, so that year is blank. The country has no seaports; trade moves by rail and road, with Brest on the Polish border the busiest crossing, and the hubs at Minsk and Orsha serving as inland logistics points. Lithuanian ports, Klaipėda in particular, were once the usual sea outlet for Belarusian goods, but sanctions and closures of border crossings have shifted flows toward Russia. Belarus is also an exporter of wood goods and wood-based products to the EU, and EU authorities apply a minimum 15% inspection rate on the wood packaging of specified goods from Belarus under Regulation (EU) 2024/288, so pallets leaving Belarus carry greater scrutiny on arrival. Findings of unmarked or infested wood packaging on arrival in Belarus are handled by treatment, destruction or return. The pallet market combines the 1200 × 800 mm EUR format, used in retail and with EU-linked flows, with the 1200 × 1000 mm pallet common in industry. Belarusian pallet makers supply both domestic demand and exports, treating wood by heat to meet export requirements.

Key points

• Landlocked: transit trade routes via Lithuania, Russia and Poland
• EAEU member, so common EAEU phytosanitary rules apply alongside national rules
• EU applies a minimum 15% WPM check rate to specified goods from Belarus (Reg. (EU) 2024/288)
• EU sanctions since 2022 have disrupted road and rail links across the Polish and Lithuanian borders

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. IPPC country page – Belarus (NPPO)
2. State Plant Quarantine Inspectorate of Belarus

Import rules change. Confirm current requirements with the national plant protection organization or your importer before shipping. This page is general information, not legal advice.