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Department of Agriculture

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  1. Home
  2. Biosecurity and trade
  3. Import
  4. Arrival of goods in Australia

Sidebar first - Import

  • Import
    • Before you import goods
      • Seasonal measures for Brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB)
        • Offshore BMSB treatment providers scheme
          • Guidance factsheets for conducting BMSB treatments
          • List of offshore BMSB treatment providers
          • Summary of recent changes to the list of offshore BMSB treatment providers
        • Preparing to import BMSB goods
        • Safeguarding arrangements
        • Management of LCL/FAK containers
        • What happens to your goods on arrival
        • Management of vessels
      • How to import goods
        • Working with the import cargo and shipping industry
      • Preparing for import
        • Treating cargo outside Australia
          • Australian Fumigation Accreditation Scheme
            • AFAS Questions and Answers
            • Offshore methyl bromide treatment providers list
            • Participating Australian Fumigation Accreditation Scheme countries & government contact details
            • Summary of recent changes to the offshore treatment providers lists
          • Ethylene Oxide Offshore Treatment Providers Scheme
            • Pre-Shipment Treatment Import Certificate
          • Offshore Irradiation Treatment Providers Scheme
          • Offshore Treatment Providers
          • Summary of recent changes to the offshore treatment providers list
        • Treatment providers outside Australia
          • Sea container hygiene system
        • Specifications for sea freight container inspection stands
        • Cargo containers: biosecurity aspects and procedures
      • Sending your goods
        • Airports
          • First Points of Entry – information for arriving aircraft and goods
          • First points of entry - airport operator requirements
        • Seaports
      • Returning Australian products
      • Self assessed clearance cargo: how we work with industry
      • Temporary imports and events
      • Exhibitions, sporting, cultural and other events
    • Arrival of goods in Australia
      • Clearance and inspection
        • Abandoned goods notice
        • Air courier fees
        • Cargo compliance verification
        • Documentary requirements for imported goods
          • Lodgement of import documentation via email
          • Entity Identifier (AEI)
        • Clearance of cargo containers
        • Container and break bulk discharge
          • Notification form for container and break bulk arrival/s
        • Highly Compliant Importer (HCI) scheme
        • Request for inspection form
        • Request for permission to dispose of goods/conveyance
      • Approved arrangements
        • Automatic Entry Processing (AEP)
        • Applying for an approved arrangement
        • Third party assessors
        • Changes and variation to an approved arrangement
        • Suspending or revoking an approved arrangement
        • Variations, changes, suspensions and revocations to class 19 approved arrangements
        • Fit and proper person test
        • Annual charge - Approved arrangements
        • Approved arrangements general policies
        • Approved arrangements glossary
        • Imported biologicals
          • Responsibilities of AA site where imported biologicals are used in vivo
          • Where to get a QAP/in-vivo application form
        • Conditions for operating approved arrangements
          • Compliance classifications for class 19 approved arrangements
          • Approved commodities and related information for class 19.2 AEPCOMM approved arrangement
          • Broad spectrum disinfectants and sanitisers for use in approved arrangements
        • Sites operating under an approved arrangement
        • Training and accreditation for approved arrangements
      • Post entry quarantine
        • Post Entry Biosecurity System User Guide
        • PEQ reservations questions and answers
      • Treatments, fumigants and providers
        • Biosecurity risk treatment guide
        • Biosecurity treatment result templates
        • Methodologies and documents for biosecurity treatments
        • Sulfuryl fluoride detection and monitoring providers
      • Check cargo, containers and vessels for pests
        • Asian gypsy moth
        • Asian longhorned beetle
        • Asian tiger mosquito
        • Black spined toad
        • Brown mulberry longhorn beetle
        • Brown marmorated stink bugs
        • Burnt pine longicorn beetle
        • Country Action List (CAL) and risk vessels
          • Request to have CAL cargo transhipped without inspection form
        • Formosan subterranean termite
        • Giant African snail
        • Giant honey bee
        • Japanese sawyer beetle
        • Khapra beetle
        • Lesser auger beetle
        • Pine wilt nematode
        • Plant diseases
        • Weeds and seeds
    • Industry advice notices
      • 2023
      • 2022
      • 2021
    • Import fees and charges
    • Import forms
    • Online services and systems
      • Biosecurity Portal
        • Set up secure access to the Portal
        • Guides
        • New release information
      • Biosecurity Import Conditions system (BICON)
        • BICON import permits
          • Importing COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) kits
          • Fit and proper test for import permit applicants
          • Standard permits for biological products
          • Importing test kits for foot and mouth disease or other notifiable animal diseases
          • Importing nucleic acid (genetic material), including synthetic nucleic acid
        • BICON software developers guide
        • Charges for import permits
        • Support using BICON
        • Register an account in BICON
        • Review of plant, animal and biological import conditions
      • Broker reports
      • Cargo Online Lodgement System (COLS)
        • COLS support
        • Lodging import documents
        • COLS minimum system operating requirements
      • Contingency arrangements for system outages
      • Postcode delivery classifications
      • Electronic Certification (eCert) for imports
    • Importing goods
      • Biological products
        • Application to change the end use of imported biological goods (repurposing)
        • Biological products forms
        • Biological Consultative Group
        • Checklist for importing biological materials
          • Animal Feed (including pet food, stockfeed, aquaculture feed and bait) checklist
          • Importing laboratory materials for use in non-laboratory animals
        • How to import animal derivatives and microbial goods into Australia - general information for importers
          • Application for transfer of biosecurity risk material
          • How to complete an Application to Import Biological Materials
        • Questions and Answers
      • Cats and dogs
      • External Territories
        • Indian Ocean Territories (IOT)
          • Import conditions for solanaceous produce
        • Norfolk Island produce
          • Risk assessment-fresh apples and pears
          • Risk assessment-fresh asparagus
          • Risk assessment-fresh beans and snowpeas
          • Risk assessment-fresh blueberries
          • Risk assessment-fresh broccoli and cauliflower
          • Risk assessment-fresh citrus fruits
          • Risk assessment-fresh fleshy vegetables
          • Risk assessment-fresh kiwifruit
          • Risk assessment-fresh leafy vegetables
          • Risk assessment-fresh mangoes
          • Risk assessment-fresh melons
          • List of permitted species of mushrooms and truffles
          • Risk assessment-fresh pineapples
          • Risk assessment-fresh root crops
          • Risk assessment-fresh stone fruits
          • Risk assessment-fresh strawberries and raspberries
          • Risk assessment-fresh table grapes
        • Application for permit: External territories
        • Import conditions for public consultation
      • Fertiliser
        • Chemical and mined fertiliser
        • Level 1 gold supply chains
        • Organic fertiliser
      • Food
        • How to import food
          • Food Import Compliance Agreements
            • FICA audits
        • Import requirements by food type
          • Importing food from New Zealand
          • Pure and highly concentrated caffeine products
          • Cereal grains and cereal products
          • Coconut and coconut meat
          • Coconut milk drinks
          • Cheese
          • Dried milk
          • Raw milk cheese
          • Fruits and vegetables
          • Berries
          • Pomegranate arils
          • Hemp seeds and oil
          • Dried herbs
          • Paprika and pepper
          • Honey
          • Human milk and human milk products
          • Powdered infant formula
          • Kava
          • Beef and beef products
          • Processed meat - cooked
          • Meat and edible offal
          • Cooked poultry meat
          • Cooked poultry pate, paste and liver
          • Raw beef and beef products
          • Processed meat - uncooked
          • Uncooked slow dry cured ham
          • Peanuts and pistachios
          • Sesame seeds and sesame seed products
          • Edible plant oil
          • Cassava chips
          • Tofu, soy bean curd, soy milk curd
          • Mini jelly cups containing konjac
          • Prohibited plants and fungi
          • Bivalve molluscs
          • Cooked crustaceans
          • Fish and crustaceans - aquaculture
          • Histamine susceptible fish
          • Processed finfish
          • Brown seaweed
          • Supplementary sports food
        • Documents and declarations
          • Full Import Declarations
          • Declaring the producer of imported food
          • IFIS importer declarations
          • Food safety management certificates
        • Inspection and testing
          • Imported Food Inspection Scheme
          • Book a laboratory
          • Food sampling
          • Failing food reports
          • Reconsideration and review of decisions
          • Holding orders
          • Surveys and data
        • Appointed analysts
          • Testing imported food samples
          • Conditions for appointment as an analyst
        • Foreign government certification
          • Mandatory government certification
          • Voluntary government certification
          • Applying for a certification arrangement
        • Notices
        • Legislation
      • Live animals and reproductive material
        • Animals on vessels
        • Application to import
        • Cats and dogs
        • Fees and charges
        • Fertile hatching eggs (poultry)
        • Horses
          • Importing horses - Notices to Industry and Forms
        • Invertebrates
        • Laboratory animals
        • Live aquarium (ornamental) fish
          • Approved Aquarium Chemicals, Treatments and Antibiotics
        • Livestock
        • Pet birds
        • Pigeons
        • Rabbits
        • Reproductive material (semen and embryos)
        • Transit and transhipment of animals through Australia
        • Unique or exotic pets
        • Zoo animals
      • Major resources and energy sector
        • Biosecurity Management Plan Template
        • Industry Cargo Inspection Report template
        • Industry Vessel Cleanliness Inspection Report Template
        • Sail-Away Report template
      • Motor vehicles, motorcycles and machinery
      • Movement advice animal transport equipment
      • Plants and plant products
        • Bulk grain
          • Bulk grain guidance and templates
          • Managing the biosecurity risks of imported bulk grain
        • Compliance-Based Intervention Scheme
          • Compliance-based intervention scheme (CBIS) for animal commodities
        • Cut flowers and foliage
          • Managing pests
          • Supply chain management system requirements
          • Importing cut flowers for commercial use guide
        • Food, drink and supplements
        • Fresh produce
        • Live plants
          • Approved sources of Phalaenopsis
          • Approved sources of tissue cultures free of media
          • Changes to import requirements to protect against Xylella
          • Live plant forms
        • Managing plant imports biosecurity risk
        • Plant-based animal feed
          • Guide to engaging and undertaking third party audits of processed plant-based stockfeed facilities
          • Infographic - importing processed plant-based animal feed
          • Plant-based animal feed and fertiliser forms
          • Requirements for facilities manufacturing and exporting processed plant-based stockfeed and their ingredients to Australia
        • Plant products applied to soils and plants
        • Seeds for planting
          • Coversheet for seed for planting consignments
          • Department approved seed purity testing laboratories
          • Emergency measures: Tomato brown rugose fruit virus
          • Emergency measures for tomato and capsicum seed: Tomato mottle mosaic virus Questions and Answers
          • International Clean Seed Pathway Workshop
          • Pathogen test request form
          • Reviewing laboratory test reports checklists
          • Seed contaminants and tolerance tables
          • Vegetable seeds policy review
        • Plant research material
        • Processing imported plant material in Australia
        • Timber, bamboo and wood products
          • Approved treatments for timber and wooden related products
            • Timber permanent preservative treatment requirements
              • Approved timber permanent preservative formulations
              • Timber preservation standards
          • Canadian Sawn Wood Certification Program (CSWCP)
          • Imports for non-commercial (personal) use
          • Types of timber, bamboo, and related products
          • Wooden articles import permit
      • Timber and bamboo packaging
        • Bark on timber packaging and dunnage
        • ISPM 15 for solid wood packaging
      • Uncooked prawns
        • Par-cooking BBC prawns
        • Uncooked prawn consignments

Arrival of goods in Australia

The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (the department) uses a range of scientific, intelligence and evidence based information when setting the measures for managing the risks associated with arriving goods and cargo. This includes targeting containers that pose greater biosecurity risks or are from known high risk pathways such as Country Action List (CAL) countries, countries with seasonal or emerging pest risks or depending on the location of the final delivery address within Australia.

The department additionally undertakes routine verification activities on arriving cargo as well as surveillance activities at and around wharf areas and empty container parks, to monitor for unwanted or emerging exotic insects and pests.

The on arrival clearance process of sea containers can be helped by ensuring your container is free of biosecurity risk material, correct documentation has been lodged and your goods and any packing materials used meet the department's import conditions. This includes determining whether you may need an import permit before shipping goods to Australia, this information can be obtained from BICON.

The department targets a range of high risk pests and other contaminants (such as soil) on imported sea containers and non-containerised (break bulk) cargo.

All containers from countries listed on the Country Action List (CAL) require full six-sided inspection of external surfaces and the internal surfaces of empty containers prior to release from the terminal.

If your goods are imported from one of the countries listed on the CAL, you must check the CAL status of your goods with the relevant stevedore before arranging collection of the goods from the terminal.

Exporters and shippers are encouraged to ensure that containers are cleaned internally and externally, and that the integrity of the containers is maintained during packing and transport.

Particular attention should be paid to the following areas of the container prior to shipping:

  • along bottom rails of containers
  • within forklift pockets
  • in and around the twist lock fittings
  • underside and cross members
  • top of the container

The Container Transport Unit (CTU) Code provides advice on the safe packing and transport of sea containers, as well as phytosanitary measures. Annex 6 provides specific information on minimising the risk of recontamination, including measures to remove and manage biosecurity risk material.

Cross contamination can occur at any stage of the pathway where suitable measures are not in place to manage biosecurity risks.

High Level Contamination Management (Tarping of containers)

Sea containers that have been identified as posing a high biosecurity risk due to hitchhiker pests, soil, plant or other contamination must not be moved off the wharf (point of entry) without approval from the department.

Sea containers will be directed for appropriate action to manage the risk, which may also include directions for managing the risk during transit. Where external contamination is likely to dislodge during movement to the cleaning location, the biosecurity officer will direct that the cargo/container must be managed accordingly, for example:

  • containerisation of the cargo (if possible)
  • part underside tarping if contamination only identified underneath the container
  • full envelope tarping if contamination is present on multiple surfaces.

The main types of contaminants found on surfaces of sea containers include:

  • Insects – a range of insects can lodge themselves or build nests on shipping containers including ants, wasps, bees, beetles, moths and spiders
  • Snails – exotic snails such as the giant African snail and other snail species
  • Animals – rodents, geckos and toads are the main vertebrates found in and on shipping containers
  • Animal matter – includes animal and bird faeces, bones, skin and hair
  • Plants – plants can grow on shipping containers if residual seed has been allowed to germinate with or without contaminating soil. Other plant matter includes leaves and other plant parts
  • Soil – soil and soil related contaminants (forklift pockets, the twist lock fittings and underside and cross members)
  • Fungi – damp, dark conditions support fungi and other airborne spores can lodge and grow on any soil on container surfaces

The Biosecurity risk treatment guide provides information on the department approved treatment options available to address a specific biosecurity risk.

Industry must be aware of seasonal measures and new and emerging requirements before shipping goods and cargo into Australia.

Brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB)

To manage the seasonal risk of BMSB (Halyomorpha Halys), the department implements additional measures each year which apply to targeted goods manufactured in or shipped from target risk countries, and that have been shipped between a set period and to vessels that berth, load, or tranship from target risk countries within the same period. Further information is available on the BMSB Webpage.

Khapra Beetle

Khapra beetle (Trogoderma granarium) is a small but serious pest, as such, the department is implementing urgent actions to address the risk of khapra beetle entering Australia. The urgent actions are being implemented in phases and will result in changes to import conditions for plant products and sea containers. Further information is available on the Urgent actions to protect against khapra beetle webpage.

All sea containers destined to be unpacked in rural areas are subject to a Rural Tailgate inspection (RTG) at the port of discharge. The requirement for an inspection is based on delivery postcode classifications.

  • Rural tailgate inspections can be undertaken at a wharf or at an approved metropolitan Approved Arrangement (AA) site. Inspections can be performed by departmental officers or where class 14.4 conditions are met, by an approved Biosecurity Industry Participant (BIP).

Inspection involves the container being directed for an inspection of all external surfaces of the container before opening the doors and checking the doors, seals and floor area close to the door for signs of pests, plant or animal material contaminants and soil.

Rural tailgate inspections consist of an internal and external inspection with exception for the following, which require an external container inspection only:

  • consignments containing dangerous goods
  • consignments containing hard frozen goods
  • Returning Australian meat goods
  • Diplomatic consignments
  • ISO tanks

Departmental rural tailgate inspection requirements

The initial inspection must be conducted on:

  • a truck with a skeletal trailer that allows good visibility under the container, or
  • a truck with a flatbed trailer with height extended twist locks where the container is raised above the flatbed platform to allow good visibility under the container, or
  • a sea container inspection stand that complies with the specifications for sea freight container inspection stands.

The AA site must have an approved container inspection stand and wash bay in the event that external contamination on the container is detected and cleaning and reinspection are required. Re-inspection of the container must be performed on the inspection stand.

Biosecurity Industry Participant (BIP) rural tailgate inspection

The department has released approved arrangement Class 14.4 Rural tailgate inspection and integrated this arrangement into BICON and associated class 19 systems and policy. Class 14.4 authorises the BIP operating either class 1.1 or class 1.3 (with approved class 4.3 wash bay facilities) sea and air freight depot to perform the rural tailgate inspection, where directed, on certain container types destined for unpack in a rural destination.

Sea containers with a commodity risk are ineligible for this class and will continue to be inspected by a biosecurity officer. Where detection of contamination that is not permitted to be managed by BIPs or where any concerns within the container are found, it must be reported to the department and re inspected by a Biosecurity officer.

Further information on class 14.4 application and conditions can be found on the departments Approved Arrangements webpage.

For questions regarding rural tailgate Inspections performed by the department or a Biosecurity Industry Participant under Class 14.4 contact Sea Cargo Policy.

The department also has joint government-industry initiatives such as the Sea Container Hygiene System (SCHS). The SCHS gives the department a high level of confidence that containers shipped from recognised facilities and load ports, arrive in Australia free from biosecurity risk concerns. The SCHS also provides an opportunity for the department to recognise compliant parties with reduced intervention on arrival, ensuring the timely release of cargo from the wharf and a reduction in associated costs for industry.

The department undertakes regular monitoring, surveillance and response measures such as Cargo Compliance Verification (CCV) inspections at and around wharf areas and empty container parks for unwanted exotic insects and pests. The department also works closely with state and territory agencies and industry during heightened biosecurity periods such as Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB) season or where post border detections have been identified.

Clearance of cargo arriving in Australia can often be completed using declarations and information provided by the importer.

It is important that biosecurity incidents are reported as soon as practicable to limit the risk associated with any pest or disease entering, establishing or spreading into Australian territory.

You are required by law to report certain biosecurity incidents if you are:

  • a person in charge of goods subject to biosecurity control, or an exposed good order; or
  • a person in charge of an aircraft or vessel carrying goods subject to biosecurity control, or an exposed goods order; and
  • you become aware of a reportable biosecurity incident in relation to those goods.

A report can be made by calling 1800 798 636 or by completing the Reportable Biosecurity Incident form.

See.Secure.Report

If you see a biosecurity risk that you think may have hitchhiked to Australia, secure the goods to limit the movement where possible, and immediately report it to the department on 1800 798 636 or complete the online form.

General enquiries

Call 1800 900 090

Contact us online

Report a biosecurity concern

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Last updated: 12 September 2022

© Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of country throughout Australia and recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and culture. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.