12 June 2020
Who does this notice affect?
This notice is of interest to all vessel masters and shipping agents who represent international commercial and non-commercial vessels for the purposes of Australian biosecurity clearance.
What has changed?
The heightened vessel surveillance window for AGM is between January and May each year. The Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (the department) ceased its annual surveillance for managing the risks posed by the Asian Gypsy Moth (AGM) on vessels on
31 May 2020.
- The Maritime Arrivals Reporting System (MARS) will no longer send an AGM questionnaire to targeted vessels after submission of mandatory pre-arrival reporting.
- The Maritime National Coordination Centre (MNCC) will continue to risk assess vessels to determine where an AGM inspection is to be performed, where they were scheduled before the 31 May. i.e. Surveillance/assessment activities concludes after all targeted inspections have been concluded.
- Vessels masters should continue to remain vigilant for exotic insects and report detections to the department.
Further information
For vessel arrival reporting and MARS questions, contact the department’s MNCC by email or phone 1300 004 605 (in Australia) or +61 8 8201 6185 (outside Australia).
The department has a range of pest alert brochures to assist vessel masters and crew to identify and detect hitchhiking pests of biosecurity concern, such as AGM: agriculture.gov.au/import/before/pests/asian-gypsy-moth
AGM surveillance and assessment will recommence around 2021. Notification will be provided.