Country Action List (CAL)

The following countries are on the CAL:

• American Samoa
• Benin
• Brunei Darussalam
• Burkina Faso
• Cambodia
• Cameroon
• Central African Republic
• Chad
• Christmas Island
• Congo (Democratic Republic)
• Cote d'Ivoire
• Equatorial Guinea
• Fiji
• French Polynesia
• Gabon
• Ghana
• Guadeloupe
• Guam
• Indonesia (province of Papua only)
• Madagascar
• Maldives
• Martinique
• Micronesia (Federated States of)
• Morocco
• Mozambique
• New Caledonia
• Niger
• Nigeria
• Northern Mariana Islands
• Palau
• Papua New Guinea
• Samoa
• Seychelles
• Solomon Islands
• Tanzania
• Timor–Leste
• Togo
• Uganda
• United States of America (state of Hawaii only)
• Vanuatu
• Wallis and Futuna
• Zambia
• Zimbabwe.

The cargo reporter must report discharge details for CAL cargo in the Department of Home Affairs Integrated Cargo System (ICS).

This information must be lodged:

• For a voyage longer than 48 hours — minimum 48 hours before the vessel is estimated to arrive at its first port in Australian territory.
• For a voyage shorter than 48 hours — minimum 12 hours before the vessel is estimated to arrive at its first port in Australian territory.

Empty CAL containers:

• For ports without empty container park Approved Arrangement class 2.6, a biosecurity officer at the wharf of discharge will conduct internal inspections of empty containers at the same time as the external inspections.
• For ports with an empty container park approved arrangement class 2.6, empty, containers will be directed to a class 2.6 Approved Arrangement for internal inspection after the external inspection by a biosecurity officer. Shipping agents must nominate an approved arrangement to receive their containers. Nominations should be emailed to us before vessel arrival to minimise delays.
• Empty containers which are exempt from external inspection due to transhipment or have the external inspection cancelled under the Sea Container Hygiene System do not require internal inspection.

Shipping agent responsibilities

The principal shipping agent:

• will be sent directions to secure all CAL cargo on the wharf for inspection.
• is responsible for any cleaning and treatment directions associated with the inspection.
• must ensure all inspections and treatments are completed within direction timeframes.
• is responsible for all department fees related to the inspections.

Charges associated with empty container park inspections, third party treatments and cleaning are applied by the relevant service provider.

Stevedores are responsible for managing CAL cargo on arrival and must request booking inspections to ensure cargo is inspected within direction timeframes.

CAL cargo must be:

• managed in accordance with the First point of entry biosecurity standards (ports).
• stacked and stored separately to non-CAL cargo, CAL transhipping cargo and CAL cargo that requires treatment.
• surrounded by an uninterrupted salt barrier (or other department-approved control) to minimise pest movement and cross contamination.
• held on the discharge wharf until released by us in the ICS.

All surplus cargo not reported in the ICS must be segregated from CAL cargo and surrounded by an uninterrupted salt barrier and held until reported in the ICS.

Stevedores must provide biosecurity officers access to CAL and transhipping CAL cargo storage areas to confirm CAL cargo is being managed appropriately.

All CAL cargo must be inspected at the first Australian port of discharge within 14 days of arrival and before release from the discharge wharf.

A CAL Inspection includes:

• a 6-sided external inspection for all container types by a biosecurity officer.
• an external inspection of break bulk cargo by a biosecurity officer.
• an internal inspection of empty containers conducted by either:
  • accredited industry staff at empty container park approved arrangement sites
  • biosecurity officers at the wharf of discharge in ports without empty container park approved arrangement sites.

Empty and nested flat racks must be presented individually and with the end walls positioned upright and locked in position.

Any cargo that cannot be safely or sufficiently inspected at the wharf of discharge may be directed to a nearby approved arrangement for inspection.

If biosecurity risk material is found, it will be removed or directed for treatment on wharf (if possible).

If biosecurity risk material cannot be removed on the wharf, or the wharf does not have washing facilities, the CAL cargo will be directed to a class 1.1 approved arrangement located near the port of discharge for:

• fumigation
• cleaning and reinspection, or
• other approved treatments.

Principal shipping agents must nominate their chosen class 1.1 approved arrangement within 24 hours of receiving notification that the cargo requires treatment.

Detections of high-risk mobile pests may require mandatory treatments on the wharf prior to further movement being permitted.

If there is suspected cross contamination, further action may be required on surrounding cargo. Surrounding cargo may include in-contact cargo or cargo in proximity to the biosecurity risk material.

See the biosecurity risk treatment guide for types of contamination and treatment options.

Securing cargo for movement

If there is a risk that external contamination may dislodge during movement to the approved arrangement, the biosecurity officer will direct that the cargo be managed by:

• tarping:
  • full tarping is used to completely enclose a container or goods to secure identified biosecurity risk material.
  • partial tarping is used to partially enclose areas of goods or containers where biosecurity risk material has been detected, but the risk can be secured by partially tarping specific areas of the container or goods.
• containerisation of the cargo
• any other department approved method. 

The person in charge of goods will be issued with a biosecurity direction which includes the required method for securing the contamination and other relevant conditions for movement.

Before movement of the goods off the wharf, the transport operator must be in possession of the biosecurity direction and must verify the goods meet the conditions in the direction.

We have developed an industry reference guide for tarping imported goods to help you meet our tarping requirements.

The person in charge of the tarping activity must be in possession of relevant biosecurity directions issued by us before tarping.

Goods directed for tarping before movement off wharf must be sufficiently secured to prevent passage or leakage of all biosecurity risk material during movement, transport and storage.

Electronic holds are applied in the ICS to CAL cargo. The hold type used is GAS HELD. Held CAL cargo cannot be moved from the wharf until the required biosecurity activities have occurred and the ICS hold is lifted by the department.

All CAL container directions, such as treatments, must be finalised before any further biosecurity activities relating to the goods inside the container can occur.

Ensure you check the status of your cargo with the relevant stevedore or in ICS before you arrange collection. Cargo with a ‘conditional clear’ status in the ICS may still be subject to CAL, or other biosecurity measures.

Further CAL requirements are identified in the impediment details in the ICS status screen. Third party systems do not incorporate CAL cargo impediment details and should not be relied on as a source to collect cargo from the wharf.

The Sea Container Hygiene System (SCHS) is a voluntary biosecurity agreement for industry meeting offshore sea container hygiene requirements that we set. The agreement seeks to manage biosecurity risk associated with sea containers imported from Country Action list (CAL) countries at the port of loading.

With ongoing compliance, participants can benefit from reduced external container inspections on arrival in Australia. Inspections on arrival can reduce to as low as 5 percent, delivering cost-savings to participants through:

• reduced inspections
• cleaning
• tarping
• treatment fees
• reduced container dwell-times on wharf.

Further information is on the SCHS webpage.

Australian ports are regularly used by shipping industries to tranship goods destined for other countries. Where certain conditions are met, CAL cargo being transhipped through Australia to an overseas destination may be allowed to do so without our inspection.

To be eligible for a transhipment without inspection the following conditions must be met:

• cargo must be reported in the ICS as having an overseas final destination.
• transhipment forms must be submitted to the department at least 1 full business day before vessel arrival.
• intended wharf storage must be no longer than 14 days (days are counted from date of discharge to date of loading). Where the actual wharf storage period is longer than 14 days industry must contact us.
• Cargo must be loaded directly aboard the stated on-carrying vessel and shipped directly overseas from the wharf of arrival. No further discharge onto any Australian port or wharf is permitted.
• Permission may be granted to move the cargo to another wharf for export in some circumstances. In these instances, an external inspection is still required, but the requirement for an internal inspection may be removed. Other biosecurity risk factors will be taken into consideration on a case-by-case basis.

Where transhipment of cargo without inspection is approved, the cargo:

• must be segregated from other cargo on the wharf and surrounded by an uninterrupted salt barrier or another department-approved barrier maintained each day.
• may be subject to random verification inspections on the wharf to verify compliance with Australia’s biosecurity requirements before transhipping. Any biosecurity concerns detected may result in further intervention on a fee-for-service basis.
• may be directed for further intervention at any time if requirements are not met.

Requesting a transhipment of CAL without inspection

To request CAL cargo be transhipped without inspection:

• download and complete the CAL cargo transhipment form
• email the completed form to us at least 1 full business day before vessel arrival.

Assessment fees will apply. For further information refer to our charging guidelines.

The requesting party must advise us immediately if any of the details of the transhipment change after the request has been granted (e.g. departure date or vessel change). Failure to advise of changes or to comply with conditions, may result in approval to tranship without inspection being withdrawn and/or non-compliance action.

For general enquiries and for transhipment related requests email us.

For more information about reducing intervention on imported containers email SCHS Policy.

For enquiries relating to the status of your CAL cargo contact the relevant stevedore or principal shipping agent.