Export Packaging for Custom Furniture from Turkey: ISPM 15 Crates, Flat-Pack Pallets and Container Loading Explained

Custom furniture leaves Turkey as hundreds of flat parts, finished fronts and a few assembled pieces, and it has to arrive as one kitchen, one wardrobe or one hotel floor with nothing chipped, swollen or missing. Packaging decides that, and it also decides freight cost, customs clearance and who pays when something goes wrong. This guide explains how we pack custom kitchens, wardrobes, doors and hotel furniture for export, what ISPM 15 means for the wooden pallets and crates, how moisture is kept under control on a sea voyage, how a 20' or 40' container is loaded, and which documents travel with the cases. It is written for the project buyer, the architect and the freight forwarder who will receive the goods.

Three packaging levels, chosen by product and route

We do not pack every order the same way. The packaging level follows the product, the transport mode and the handling at destination.

  • Level 1 – palletised flat-pack packs. Carcass parts for kitchens and wardrobes are cut to size, edge-banded on all sides, drilled and stacked flat in assembly order, with cardboard or foam interleaving between faces, corner protectors on the edges, stretch film around the stack and strapping to an ISPM 15 pallet. Every pack carries a number and a parts list; the assembly manual and the installation video refer to the same numbers. This is our standard for flat-pack (RTA) kitchen cabinets from Turkey and for most wardrobes, and it is why the same kitchen takes far less container space than an assembled one.
  • Level 2 – protected finished surfaces. Lacquered fronts, veneered panels and lacquered wooden interior doors are wrapped individually in foam sheet, the edges are covered with profile protectors, and the pieces are boxed in double-wall or honeycomb cardboard and stacked flat with no hard contact between faces. Lacquer is fully cured before packing; a surface that is dry to the touch is not yet hard enough to travel.
  • Level 3 – timber crates. Assembled pieces such as vanities, reception desks and hotel casegoods, and any consignment that will be transshipped or stored at a port, go into closed crates: a solid-wood frame with plywood sheathing, internal blocking so that nothing moves, a polyethylene liner and desiccant bags for sea freight. Each crate carries our label with the case number, gross and net weight, dimensions and the "this side up" and "keep dry" marks. Our consignments to Bahrain and the United Kingdom have shipped this way.

ISPM 15: the rule that applies to every pallet and crate

ISPM 15 is the international phytosanitary standard for wood packaging material, published by the IPPC (International Plant Protection Convention, last revised in 2018). It applies to solid-wood pallets, crates, cases, dunnage and blocking thicker than 6 mm. Processed wood such as plywood, OSB and particleboard is exempt, so a plywood-sheathed crate is judged by its solid-wood frame.

  • Treatment: the wood must be debarked and heat-treated to a core temperature of 56 °C for at least 30 minutes (code HT) or dielectrically heated (DH). Methyl bromide fumigation (MB) remains in the standard but has been banned as a treatment within the EU since 2010; heat treatment is the practical option.
  • Mark: the IPPC wheat-ear symbol, the ISO country code (TR for Turkey), the registered producer number and the treatment code, applied legibly on at least two opposite sides.
  • Where it is required: the EU requires ISPM 15 for all wood packaging and dunnage arriving from non-EU countries under Regulation (EU) 2016/2031, so it applies to every shipment from Turkey. Great Britain requires it for wood packaging from every country, including the EU. The Gulf states and the United States require it as well.
  • If it is missing: customs or plant-health inspectors can order the packaging to be treated, destroyed or re-exported at the importer's cost, and the goods wait while that happens.

Our pallets and crate timber come from registered ISPM 15 treatment facilities; the mark is photographed on each pallet and crate before loading and the photos go into the shipping file. Ask any supplier for the same photos: a packing list that says "ISPM 15 pallets" is not evidence, the stamp is.

Moisture: the risk nobody sees until the doors are hung

Wood and wood-based panels move with humidity. The USDA Forest Products Laboratory recommends that interior woodwork and furniture be installed at about 8 % moisture content (6–10 %) in most temperate regions, about 6 % in dry climates and about 11 % in damp, warm coastal areas. A kitchen produced at 8 % and installed on the Gulf coast or in a Mediterranean apartment without air conditioning will take up moisture; the reverse happens in a Scandinavian winter. We therefore ask for the destination climate and the heating or air-conditioning regime of the building when we confirm an order, and we condition solid-wood components accordingly.

The voyage itself adds a second risk. Singh, Saha, Singh and Sandhu measured vibration, temperature and humidity inside intermodal containers across truck, rail and ship legs and recorded large temperature and humidity swings inside closed containers together with the highest vibration levels on the road legs (Packaging Technology and Science, 2012). In a hot container the air holds moisture by day and releases it on the cold steel at night: this is the "container rain" that stains and swells unprotected panels. Our countermeasures:

  • Goods are packed dry, in a dry hall, and never loaded in rain.
  • Crates for sea freight get a polyethylene liner and desiccant bags sized by the forwarder for the route.
  • Panels are stacked flat and fully supported; a panel stored on edge for three weeks arrives bowed.
  • For long voyages or humid destinations we recommend that the buyer lets the cases acclimatise inside the building for a few days before unpacking.

Container loading plan

Container sizes are fixed by ISO 668; the figures below are typical internal values, and your carrier's specification sheet is the reference for a specific box.

Container Internal L × W × H Door opening W × H Capacity Typical max payload
20' standard 5.90 × 2.35 × 2.39 m 2.28 × 2.29 m about 33 m³ about 28,200 kg
40' standard 12.03 × 2.35 × 2.39 m 2.28 × 2.29 m about 67 m³ about 26,800 kg
40' high cube 12.03 × 2.35 × 2.69 m 2.28 × 2.59 m about 76 m³ about 26,800 kg

Furniture is a volume cargo, not a weight cargo: a 40' high cube is full long before it is heavy. That is where flat-pack pays. Carcasses shipped as flat parts take a fraction of the space of assembled boxes, so a project that would need two containers assembled often ships in one. Our loading rules:

  1. Heavy crates and assembled pieces on the floor, weight spread along the length, never concentrated at one end.
  2. Flat-pack pallets stacked only when the lower pallet is a closed, strapped pack that can carry the load; otherwise single height.
  3. Finished fronts and doors upright in their cartons against a flat face, never under a load.
  4. Gaps filled with dunnage bags or timber blocking; the load must not move when the ship rolls.
  5. Lashing straps to the container's lashing rings at the door end, so that nothing falls out when the doors are opened.
  6. The last row is a plain, strapped face; a bar across the door end for crates.
  7. Photographs of the empty container, each loading stage, the closed doors and the seal, with the seal number written on the packing list and the bill of lading.

For European projects the same packs travel on curtain-sider trucks or Ro-Ro trailers, with pallets sized to the trailer; transit from dispatch is normally 4–7 days to Western Europe. A full 40' container of fitted furniture to the United Kingdom and crated consignments to Bahrain are recent examples of the two routes.

Documents that travel with the cases

  • Packing list per case: case number, contents by part number, dimensions, gross and net weight. The forwarder, the customs broker and the installer all work from this list.
  • Commercial invoice matching the packing list, with HS codes (9403 for furniture, 4418 for wooden doors) and the origin document your market requires (A.TR for the EU, origin declaration for the UK). See importing furniture from Turkey: documents and lead times.
  • ISPM 15 evidence: photos of the marks; some brokers ask for the treatment supplier's certificate as well.
  • Material documentation such as the panel producer's emission declaration, explained in our guide to formaldehyde classes for custom furniture.
  • Assembly manual and installation video keyed to the pack numbers, sent electronically before the goods arrive.

Who is responsible for what

We quote EXW Istanbul, and the packaging specification is written into the offer so that the forwarder can calculate freight from the same pallet and crate dimensions. Export-grade packaging is our responsibility; carriage, insurance and import clearance are arranged by the buyer or the buyer's forwarder, and risk passes when the goods are collected. We recommend all-risks cargo insurance (Institute Cargo Clauses A) for every project shipment, and we hand over a photo record of every case and of the loading so that any claim can be documented. At delivery, note any visible damage on the delivery note before signing and photograph the case before it is opened.

Checklist: what to ask your supplier about packaging

  1. Which packaging level will each item get: pallet pack, carton or crate?
  2. Are the pallets and the crate timber ISPM 15 marked, and will you send photos of the marks?
  3. How is the lacquer cured, and how long before packing?
  4. What moisture content are solid-wood components conditioned to, and have you asked about my climate?
  5. For sea freight: liner and desiccant inside the crates?
  6. Will I receive a loading plan and photographs before the container is sealed?
  7. Is the packing list per case, with part numbers that match the assembly manual?
  8. Is the packaging specification stated in the offer so that my forwarder can quote freight?

Planning a kitchen, wardrobe or hotel fit-out for export? Send your drawings and the destination or write to us on WhatsApp. We quote EXW Istanbul with the packaging specification included, for custom kitchen cabinets and bespoke furniture for hotels, villas and apartments.

Frequently asked questions

Do plywood crates need an ISPM 15 stamp?

The plywood itself is exempt, but the solid-wood frame, skids and blocking inside the crate are not. In practice every crate we ship carries the mark on its solid-wood parts.

Flat-pack or assembled: which is safer in transit?

Flat-pack, in our experience. Flat parts are supported over their whole face, fronts are packed separately, and the load is denser and moves less. Assembled cabinets ship air, rack under vibration and get damaged at the corners.

Can you load the container yourselves and send photos?

Yes. We load at the collection point in Istanbul, follow the loading plan agreed with your forwarder, and send photographs of every stage and of the seal.

Who insures the goods?

Under EXW the buyer or the buyer's forwarder arranges cargo insurance. We recommend all-risks cover for every project shipment and provide the case photos needed for a claim.

Sources

Last updated: October 2026. Packaging and plant-health rules change; we review this page quarterly.

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