8 August 2022
Who does this notice affect?
Stakeholders associated with the biosecurity clearance of sea freight containers imported into Australia that are destined for unpack in a rural location. This includes customs brokers, importers and biosecurity industry participants that operate an approved arrangement site and facilitate rural tailgate inspections.
What has changed?
The department has released a new class of approved arrangement – 14.4 Rural tailgate inspection and integrated this arrangement into BICON and associated class 19 systems and policy. Class 14.4 authorises the biosecurity industry participant to perform the rural tailgate inspection, where directed, on certain container types destined for unpack in a rural destination.
Class 14.4 will provide the department with confidence that biosecurity risk to rural areas continues to be appropriately managed, with prescribed risk management measures and controls through the approved arrangement conditions. Class 14.4 will also allow biosecurity officer expertise to be redirected away from performing low-risk inspections and towards higher biosecurity risk goods and emerging risk pathways.
The department anticipates that class 14.4 will provide industry undertaking these inspections the opportunity for:
- greater flexibility in how approved sites operate their business by allowing self-scheduled inspections, permitted cleaning activities, and release of clean containers based on their own workload and operational requirements
- less reliance on departmental officer availability and schedules
- reduced departmental fees and charges being applied, and
- a reduction in administrative interactions with the department.
What container types are in and out of scope of class 14.4?
Class 14.4 is limited to dry box, reefer, ISO tanker and open top containers:
- intended for delivery to a location that is within a postcode classified by the department as a rural area, and
- imported with compliant commodity documentation, where specified in biosecurity import conditions applicable to the goods within the container, and
- imported with compliant non-commodity documentation, and
- requiring rural tailgate inspection to address rural concerns only.
Containers that are out of scope of class 14.4 include:
- containers subject to commodity verification as part of the rural tailgate inspection (in accordance with import conditions), or
- that require rural tailgate inspection prior to fumigation or commodity inspection, or
- where country of origin or load port biosecurity risks have been identified.
Foot-and-mouth Disease
The emergence and rapid spread of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in Indonesia has changed the risk profile for passengers and goods arriving in Australia. As a result, containers with the load port/origin of Indonesia will be out of scope for the class 14.4. Containers from Indonesia that require a rural tailgate inspection must continue to be performed by a biosecurity officer at approved sites.
When can sites apply?
The new arrangement is now open for application.
The class 14.4 conditions and information on how to apply can are available on the departments website: Conditions for operating approved arrangements.
Who can apply?
Existing biosecurity industry participants operating an approved arrangement site approved as either:
- class 1.1 – sea and air freight depot (unrestricted) with a class 4.3 approved wash bay, or
- class 1.3 – sea and air freight depot (restricted) with a class 4.3 approved wash bay and approved rural tailgate inspection facilities.
How do Industry request this activity at approved sites?
A variation to the requirements and conditions for approved arrangements class 19.1: non-commodity for containerised cargo clearance V6.0 has been completed to incorporate two new concern types allowing accredited person to direct consignments for a biosecurity industry participant to perform the rural tailgate inspection, that are within scope of the class 14.4 AA.
Accredited persons can also manually request the department apply class 14.4 RTG directions via COLS, on containers for rural delivery and assessed as otherwise impediment free.
Further information
The class 14.4 approved arrangement conditions and how to apply can be found on our website: Conditions for operating approved arrangements. If further information is required, please email: seacargopolicy@aff.gov.au