However in regard to Packing Declarations and Treatment Certificates, the old format will continue to be acceptable for shipments assessed prior to 1 September 2009. 

This means if you have shipments due to leave the country of export in the near future and which will arrive in Australia on or after 1 August 2009, the Quarantine documentation for these shipments will need to comply with the changes set out below.

Revised Packing Declarations and other documents can be found on the JJ Lawson website at www.jjlawson.com.au.

AQIS DOCUMENTATION - GENERAL

·          Any documents issued by your overseas supplier or treatment provider that are more than one page in length must have their reference number on each page.

·          All documents must be in English except of the letterhead.

AQIS IMPORT PERMITS

Import permits must be valid at time of importation, that is you need to have your import permit in place prior to the goods being imported.

If you apply for an import permit after the goods are imported, you will be relying on the good graces of the AQIS officer processing your shipment as to whether they will accept a permit that is outside the validity period of the permit (ie the importation occurred prior to the commencement date of the Import Permit).

PACKING DECLARATIONS

There are new format Packing Declarations – both Shipment by Shipment and Annual Packing Declarations and a new Packing Declaration for FCL/X shipments of exposed infestable agricultural products.

The ISPM 15 Statement is now mandatory on all Packing Declarations.

These new format Packing Declarations must be used for,

·          Shipment by Shipment Packing Declarations for all FCL or LCL consignments arriving on or after 1 August 2009.

·          Annual Packing Declarations for all goods packed on or after 1 August 2009.

However all current Annual Packing Declarations with expiry dates from 1 August 2009 will remain valid, however they must be renewed for any shipments arriving prior to 1 January 2010.

Annual Packing Declarations will only be valid if all the following are met,

·          The Original of the Annual Packing Declaration is presented to AQIS and is endorsed as approved by them;

·          Shipments are packed during the validity period of the Annual Packing Declaration – that is within 12 months after the date of the Annual Packing Declaration;

·          Shipments must arrive during the validity period, that is within 12 months after the date of the Annual Packing Declaration. 

This last dot point is a new additional criteria for Annual Packing Declarations.

TREATMENT CERTIFICATES

There is new information required on the various types of Treatment Certificates – copies of treatment certificates with the minimum information required is attached.

The main changes are,

·          All Treatment Certificates must state either the quantity or volume of timber that was treated.

·          ISPM 15 Treatment Certificates are no longer acceptable however ISPM 15 Statements on the Packing Declaration remain acceptable - No treatment certificate is required if Question 2b on the Packing Declaration is answered “Yes”.

·          New and Unused Plywood Declarations have been re-instated pending the results of a review by AQIS as to whether fumigation or other treatment is required.

·          All Fumigation Certificates must state the date the treatment started and the date the treatment was completed.

·          Methyl Bromide Fumigation Certificates must now have a plastic wrap declaration stating

o        “Plastic wrapping has not been used in this consignment”; or

o        “This consignment has been fumigated before application of plastic wrapping”; or

o        “Plastic wrapping used in this consignment conforms to the AQIS wrapping and perforation standard as found in the AQIS Methyl Bromide Fumigation Standard”.

 ·          Ethylene Oxide is now an acceptable treatment for timber packing materials provided it is conducted

o       By an approved offshore Ethylene Oxide fumigation provider (currently there is only one treatment provider in Indonesia and 3 in Malaysia that are approved - please contact us for the names of those companies)

o       Under minimum vacuum of 50 kilopascals at 1500g/m³ for 4 hours at 50ºC; or

o       At 1500g/m³ for 24 hours at 21ºC.

·          Gamma Irradiation is now acceptable treatment for timber packing materials provided it is conducted,

o       By an approved offshore Gamma Irradiation treatment provider – currently only certain companies in Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa, UK and the USA are approved - please contact us for the names of those companies.

o       Gamma irradiate at 10 kGray (1.0 Mrad).

 ·        Heat Treatment of timber packaging at 56°C for 30 minutes is now acceptable from all countries provided such treatment is endorsed on an official Phytosanitary Certificate issued by the government of the country in which the treatment occurred.

 Please Note this is not a reference to ISPM 15 heat treatments which need only be declared on the Packing Declaration (no treatment certificate is required).

 ·          Fumigation (Methyl Bromide and Sulphuryl Fluoride only), Heat Treatment and Kiln Drying treatments must be conducted within 21 days of export – the date of export is the date the cargo in laden on board the ship or the date the cargo is left with the freight forwarder. The date of containerization will not be treated as the date of export.

 ·          Please Note that Heat Treatment Certificates (as distinct from Kiln Drying Certificates) are only acceptable if they are issued under the appropriate Government Programs in Canada, United Kingdom, USA, the Netherlands, France - please contact us for the names of those programs.

 ·        Containers shipped from Giant African Snail (GAS) Countries must be fumigated with methyl bromide at the 128 grams per cubic meter at 21°C for at least 24 hours. This is regardless of whether they contain timber packaging materials or not. A list of the GAS countries can be found at the J.J. Lawson website – www.jjlawson.com.au under the 1 August 2009 changes.

EXPOSED INFESTABLE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS

·        If importers are importing exposed infestable agricultural products, a new Packing Declaration is required with a new question on whether the container is lined or not. A copy of the packing declaration can be found at the J.J. Lawson website – www.jjlawson.com.au under the 1 August 2009 changes.

Where an FCL consignment of exposed infestable agricultural products is in a wall lined container, in addition to all other FCL non-commodity requirements the following is required:

a)   Khapra Countries

Ø      a treatment certificate for khapra rate fumigation of the container; and

Ø      an official international Phytosanitary certificate for the agricultural produce issued immediately prior to loading with the additional endorsements that it was free from khapra beetle (Trogoderma granarium Everts) and was grown in the country issuing the certificate.

 b)   Non-Khapra Countries

Ø      a treatment certificate for khapra rate fumigation of the container; and

Ø      an official international Phytosanitary certificate for the agricultural produce issued immediately prior to loading with the additional endorsement that the produce was grown in the country issuing the certificate.

The khapra beetle fumigation rate is fumigation with methyl bromide at 80 grams per cubic meter at 21°C for 48 hours, with an increase of 8grams per cubic meter for every 5°C (or part there of) that the minimum temperature falls below 21°C. If the minimum temperature falls below 10°C during fumigation, the treatment is unacceptable.

The list of Khapra Beetle Countries can be found at the J.J. Lawson website – www.jjlawson.com.au under the 1 August 2009 changes;

Exposed infestable agricultural products are defined as agricultural products that are,

·        “Exposed” in relation to infestable agricultural products, is taken to mean packaged in a way that does not prevent insect infestation, i.e. not in insect proof packaging.  

·        “Infestable” in relation to infestable agricultural products, means not processed in a way that eliminates insect infestation. Additionally, those inherently infestable agricultural products which remain “exposed” after processing are deemed “infestable”.

·        “Inherently Infestable Agricultural Produce” covers Raw or semi-processed agricultural products that have not been treated in a way that addresses insect infestation in their manufacture or production. This class of goods is taken to broadly include:

Ø      Herbs and spices

Ø      Seeds (including nuts)

Ø      Plant gums and resins (except those chemically extracted)

Ø      Meals and flours of plant origin

Ø      Dried fruits

Ø      Dried vegetables excluding freeze dried vacuum packed goods

Ø      Unprocessed agricultural products excluding fresh fruits and vegetables

·        “Insect Proof Packaging” is packaging that is Sealed air-tight packaging. Examples of insect proof packaging include:

Ø      Vacuum packs

Ø      Hermetically sealed cans and jars

Ø      Sealed gas flushed plastic bags

·                    For clarification sake Inherently non-infestable agricultural products include:

Ø      Black and green teas

Ø      Herbal teas (in tea bags)

Ø      Cocoa products

Ø      Rubber

Ø      Cork

Ø      Potato starch

Ø      Pyrethrum

Ø      Soybean concentrate

Ø      Tapioca starch

Ø      Textiles

Ø      Textured vegetable proteins