7 September 2017
Who does this notice affect?
Industry stakeholders including importers, class 2.5 approved arrangement operators, freight forwarders and brokers that deal with imported prawns and prawn products subject to biosecurity inspection and/or sampling on arrival.
Purpose
To advise industry of the implementation of additional approved arrangement requirements designed to support the enhanced inspection processes for imported prawns and prawn product.
Background
The department’s enhanced import conditions require that consignments of prawns and prawn products must be held seals intact at a class 2.5 approved arrangement site pending inspection and/or sampling on arrival in Australia. To ensure that approved arrangement sites receiving these consignments are equipped to facilitate safe and effective inspection and sampling activities, biosecurity industry participants need to comply with additional requirements.
What is changing?
Biosecurity industry participants wanting to receive consignments of prawns and prawn products at their class 2.5 approved arrangement site from 4 December 2017 must comply with the following additional requirements:
The biosecurity inspection area must have:
- an inspection bench a minimum of one metre by one metre, and 90 centimetres to one metre high
- lighting of not less than 400 lux intensity at the inspection bench
- a temperature range above minus ten degrees Celsius.
Feedback and comments
All feedback and comment is to be provided to the department via email to the following address AA Canberra by Friday 15 September 2017 at 23:59 EDST. Please include “prawn inspection requirements” in the subject line.
Important dates
From 4 December 2017 only biosecurity industry participants who have been assessed as compliant with the additional requirements will be eligible to receive consignments of imported prawns and prawn products.
Compliance with the additional requirements will be assessed through onsite visit conducted at an agreed time and upon request from you. Requests for these compliance visits must be sent via email to Audit Services Group at Audit Services and include ‘prawn inspection requirements – request for assessment’ in the subject line.
Once compliance with the new requirements has been confirmed for an approved arrangement site, the department will vary that sites approved arrangement to include the additional requirement and associated biosecurity activities.
Note, from 1 December seals intact inspections of consignments will now be directed using a new direction - Inspection – Seals intact (Prawns).