Pest-Heat, which makes equipment for heat-treating pallets, says pallets treated by its system will comply with new European Union requirements for wood packaging made of softwood lumber.

Heating-treating pallets with the Pest-Heat equipment will allow them to be marked with the Heat Treated (HT) stamp, according to Pest-Heat. The stamp indicates a pallet has been properly treated and is approved for import by European Union countries. The company will provide complete support through the certification process, it said.

In addition, Pest-Heat says it has been certified to treat pallets to meet the new EU standards.

The European Union began requiring treatment Oct. 1 of imported wood packaging made of softwood in order to prevent the spread of a pest, the pinewood nematode.

The Pest-Heat Thermal Pest Management System is an environmental chamber capable of heating-treating wood pallets and other wood products infested with insects. It can be used to control a broad range of pests that traditionally have been controlled by fumigation.

During the process, treatment temperature is monitored and recorded by probes and computer equipment.

The Pest-Heat Thermal Pest Management System is safe and economical to operate, and it has been tested in conjunction with the U.S. military.

Pest-Heat is a division of Topp Portable Air, a leading supplier of portable climate control equipment. For more information, call (800) 892-8677, e-mail info@pestheat.com, or see the Web site at www.pestheat.com.