16 July 2021
Who does this notice affect?
Importers of high-risk plant products and other stakeholders in the import and shipping industries—including vessel masters, freight forwarders, treatment providers, Biosecurity Industry Participants, importers, customs brokers, principal shipping agents, and any other operators in the sea container supply and logistics chain.
What has changed?
Khapra beetle webpage updates
The khapra beetle urgent actions webpage has been restructured to improve readability. An overview of these actions is available via the original webpage, with further detail on each phase now available via the following sub-pages:
- Requirements for high-risk plant products (Phases 1-3)
- Requirements for other-risk plant products (Phase 4)
- Requirements for seeds for sowing (Phase 5)
- Requirements for sea containers (Phase 6)
New requirements for high-risk plant products
As advised in IAN 95-2021, new requirements for high-risk plant products imported via air freight and sea freight are expected to commence in September 2021. Additional information on these requirements has been published on our webpage. A summary of the new information is outlined in the below tables.
Khapra beetle target risk countries
High-risk plant products exported from a khapra beetle target risk country will be required to be treated offshore in accordance with the below requirements.
| Category | Summary of requirement |
|---|---|
| Treatment options | The approved treatment options are:
|
| Treatment providers | The treatment must not be conducted by a treatment provider listed as ‘unacceptable’, ‘suspended’ or ‘withdrawn’ on the department’s offshore treatment providers list. |
| Product packaging | If using methyl bromide fumigation, the products must be fumigated:
|
| Treatment and export timeframes | The treatment must be completed within 21 days of export. Compliance with this requirement must be demonstrated with appropriate documentation. |
| Treatment certification | The products must be accompanied by a treatment certificate issued by the offshore treatment provider. |
| Phytosanitary certification | The products must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the relevant authority of the exporting country. The phytosanitary certificate must include additional khapra beetle declarations covering the treatment and inspection of the products. |
All other countries
High-risk plant products exported from all other countries (i.e., countries that are not a khapra beetle target risk country) will be required to be inspected offshore and accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate. The phytosanitary certificate must include an additional khapra beetle declaration.
Linkage to khapra beetle requirements for sea containers
The requirements for high-risk plant products that are expected to commence in September 2021 are in addition to the existing khapra beetle requirements for sea containers.
- This will mean that if high-risk plant products are exported in an FCL/FCX sea container from a khapra beetle target risk country, both the plant products and the sea container itself will require offshore treatment. Unless using methyl bromide, the sea container must be treated when empty (i.e. before goods are packed into the container).
Further information
For further information, see:
- Urgent actions to protect against khapra beetle (Trogoderma granarium) webpage
- Khapra beetle bulletin
For:
- questions and information related directly to offshore khapra beetle treatments, please email offshoretreatments@aff.gov.au.
- all other enquiries regarding these measures, please phone 1800 900 090 or email imports@aff.gov.au (please title the subject line of the email with ‘Plant Tier 2 – khapra urgent actions’).