20 June 2024
Who does this notice affect?
Stakeholders involved with the import of live ornamental fish, including importers, Approved Arrangement holders and Cargo Terminal Operators.
What has changed?
From 21 October 2024, industry participants will be required to present each bag of live ornamental fish to eye level for biosecurity officers to observe during on-arrival inspection. Industry participants may choose to manually lift bags, or to provide a mechanism so that the bags are lifted and presented to biosecurity officers.
These inspection activities must ensure the attending biosecurity officers have clear line of sight when undertaking inspections of live fish. This is to ensure:
- the fish are healthy and do not have any visual signs of disease or parasitic infection
- the fish are permitted as per the List of permitted live freshwater and marine ornamental fish
- the bags do not contain non-permitted material or material of biosecurity concern.
Each bag for inspection must be stocked at a density that will allow clear visualisation of the fish and must not be overcrowded.
We recommend industry participants communicate and review with biosecurity officers regarding any matters involving live fish inspection processes.
What is driving this?
This change aligns with current processes implemented for other imported commodities, whereby industry participants must present their goods for inspection to biosecurity officers.
Further information
Please contact imports@aff.gov.au for further information.