19 July 2022
Who does this notice affect?
Importers of cork and cork products (and their customs brokers).
What has changed?
Upcoming changes to the Biosecurity (Conditionally Non-prohibited Goods) Determination 2021 (Goods Determination) will be made for cork and cork products. This is part of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (the department’s) ongoing review of the currency and effectiveness of import conditions and the appropriate application of import permits to manage biosecurity risk appropriately.
To reflect the Goods Determination changes, the department will also update the relevant BICON cases for these products. It is important to note that importers of unprocessed cork may require an import permit to import their goods. You can determine if you will require an import permit from the below information. If you determine that you will require an import permit, or are unsure about whether you will require an import permit, please contact the department by emailing imports@aff.gov.au (please use the subject ‘Plant Tier 2 – cork import conditions’) for advice.
The exact date of the Goods Determination update is not yet known, but it is likely to occur in or after August 2022. The department will keep importers informed of the exact date for the change via future advice notices.
Goods that arrive in Australia on or after the day that the changes are made to the Goods Determination must comply with the new conditions.
Cork and Cork Products
Import conditions found in the Cork and cork products BICON case will be updated to recognise the difference in biosecurity risk of unprocessed cork compared to processed cork and cork products. Note: Importers of unprocessed cork may require an import permit to import their goods.
Processed cork
Processed cork and cork products are defined as being goods made of:
- cork that is cut and shaped from whole virgin and raw cork sheets; and/or
- granular, crushed or ground cork; and/or
- agglomerated or composition cork (granular particles bonded together) and products made from agglomerated or composition cork.
Importers of processed cork and cork products will need to provide documentary evidence that the goods are processed cork. This evidence will need to be provided on a manufacturer’s declaration, commercial invoice or supplier’s declaration with a statement attesting that the product being imported is, or is made of, processed cork. Documentary evidence may include product descriptions with or without images.
Unprocessed cork (including raw and virgin cork)
Unprocessed cork is defined as being:
- all types of virgin and raw cork sheets that have not had processing applied beyond harvesting.
To reflect that unprocessed cork is bark, and that the biosecurity risk of bark needs to be managed appropriately, new import conditions will be added for unprocessed cork. These goods will require mandatory treatment. Evidence of one of the following offshore treatments will need to be provided on a phytosanitary certificate:
- heat treatment to a core temperature of at least 85°C for a minimum of 8 hours, or
- gamma irradiation at 25 kGy (2.5 Mrad), or
- ethylene oxide fumigation at 1200 g/m³ for 5 hours at 50°C, or
- ethylene oxide fumigation at or 1500 g/m³ for 24 hours at 21°C.
Importers that will not be able to comply with these import conditions will need to obtain an import permit prior to importing their goods. These goods will be subject to mandatory onshore treatment.
Further information
If you are an importer of raw and/or virgin cork and will require an import permit, please contact the department by the following ways:
Email imports@aff.gov.au (please use the subject ‘Plant Tier 2 – cork import conditions’).
- Phone (from within Australia): 1800 900 090
- Phone (from outside Australia): + 61 3 8318 6700