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The Single Rule That Made Global Timber Trade Possible
Description
Episode 89 of Global Trade with Fexingo unpacks the obscure phytosanitary standard ISPM 15, which requires heat treatment or fumigation of all wooden shipping pallets used in international trade. Lucas and Luna trace how a tiny wood-boring beetle, the pinewood nematode, nearly collapsed the transatlantic timber trade in the 1990s, leading to a UN-backed rule that now governs billions of pallets moving through ports every year. They explore the economics of compliance, the cost of non-compliance (a single infested pallet can trigger a full shipment rejection worth tens of thousands of dollars), and the surprising environmental trade-off: ISPM 15 has reduced pest spread but increased energy use from kiln-drying. With global trade relying on over 2 billion pallets annually, this rule is the invisible scaffold keeping shelves stocked — and forests safe.