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Department of Agriculture

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  4. Importing goods
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  6. Import conditions for public consultation

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  • External Territories
    • Indian Ocean Territories (IOT)
      • Import conditions for solanaceous produce
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    • Application for permit: External territories
    • Import conditions for public consultation

Import conditions for public consultation

 The department is constantly reviewing and updating import conditions for the external territories.

Public comments on proposed changes to import conditions for prawns and prawn products are being received via imports@agriculture.gov.au until 4 December 2020. 

The purpose of the proposed amendments is to ensure import conditions for these goods continue to manage biosecurity risks to a level that achieves Australia’s Appropriate Level of Protection (ALOP). Australia’s ALOP is expressed as a very high level of sanitary and phytosanitary protection aimed at reducing biosecurity risks to a very low level but not to zero.

[expand all]

Proposed changes to import conditions for prawns and prawn products

The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry is proposing changes to import conditions for prawns and prawn products for human consumption, brought or imported into the Australian external territories of Norfolk Island, Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands.

The changes are proposed to protect the unique crustacean species present on Australia’s territorial islands (including Christmas Island red crabs and robber crabs, mantis shrimp and mud crabs) from exotic crustacean diseases such as white spot disease. All decapod (10-legged) crustaceans are susceptible to infection with the virus that causes white spot disease, including prawns, crabs and crayfish, both marine and freshwater, or terrestrial (land dwelling). White spot disease is not dangerous to humans, however the disease can have a significant impact on crustacean populations once introduced.  

By ensuring Australia’s import conditions are applied consistently we can help to maintain our disease-free status and protect the health of Australia’s farmed and wild crustacean populations.

More information on white spot disease is available on our webpage.

Norfolk Island

Current conditions

Under current practice, all uncooked prawns, cooked prawns, breaded, battered and crumbed (BBC) prawns and highly processed prawn products imported directly into Norfolk Island from mainland Australia do not require an import permit or health certification. An import permit is required for uncooked prawns, BBC and highly processed prawn products if sourced directly from countries other than mainland Australia. Cooked prawns sourced from countries other than mainland Australia do not require an import permit but are subject to import conditions requiring health certification signed by the relevant competent authority of the exporting country.

Proposed changes

The proposed changes will allow uncooked prawns, cooked prawns, BBC prawns and highly processed prawns sourced from mainland Australia to continue entering Norfolk Island without the requirement for an import permit. However, these prawns must be accompanied by proof of purchase from mainland Australia (such as a commercial receipt) and may be subject to inspection. The conditions for importing prawns directly into Norfolk Island from countries other than mainland Australia will remain unchanged and current import conditions will continue to apply.

Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands

Current conditions

Prawns are currently excluded (exempted) from Subsection 6(2) of the Biosecurity (Conditionally Non-prohibited – Goods Cocos (Keeling) Islands) Determination 2016 and the Biosecurity (Conditionally Non-prohibited Goods – Christmas Island) Determination 2016. This means that currently all categories of prawns (including uncooked prawns, cooked prawns, breaded, battered and crumbed (BBC) prawns and highly processed prawns) can be imported into Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands from either mainland Australia or overseas without the requirement for an import permit or imposition of biosecurity risk management measures.

Proposed changes

The proposed changes will allow uncooked prawns, cooked prawns, BBC prawns and highly processed prawns sourced from mainland Australia to enter Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands without the requirement for an import permit. However, these categories of prawns must be accompanied by proof of purchase from mainland Australia (such as a commercial receipt) and may be subject to inspection.

The proposed changes also seek to align the external territories’ import conditions for prawns sourced from countries other than mainland Australia with Australia’s enhanced import conditions. The proposed changes would require a valid import permit and an official government health certificate signed by the competent authority in the exporting country to import uncooked prawns, BBC prawns or highly processed prawn products directly into Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands from countries other than mainland Australia. Cooked prawns imported directly into Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands from countries other than mainland Australia would not require an import permit but must be accompanied by health certification signed by the competent authority in the exporting country.

Note: Prawns and prawn products from mainland Australia include prawns farmed or caught in Australia and prawns imported into the Australian mainland that have been released from biosecurity control.

For more detail on the proposed changes, including specific requirements of official government health certificates, please access the factsheet below:

Download

Document Pages File size
Proposed Changes - External Territories Import of Prawns & Prawn Products Factsheet (English) PDF  2 305 KB
Proposed Changes - External Territories Import of Prawns & Prawn Products Factsheet (English) DOCX  2 67 KB
Proposed Changes - External Territories Import of Prawns & Prawn Products Factsheet (Malay) PDF  2 576 KB
Proposed Changes - External Territories Import of Prawns & Prawn Products Factsheet (Chinese PDF  2 654 KB

If you have difficulty accessing these files, please visit web accessibility.

 

Privacy: The department requests that, as a minimum, stakeholders submitting comments provide your name and contact details with your submission. Please indicate if you do not wish to have personal information published with your submission or disclosed to third parties. Collected personal information will be used and stored consistent with the Australian Privacy Principles as outlined in the department’s Privacy Policy available on the department’s website.

Confidentiality: Subject to the Freedom of Information Act 1982 and the Privacy Act 1988, content of submissions may be made public, unless you state you want all or part of your submission to be treated as confidential. A claim for confidentiality must be justified and provided as an attachment, marked ‘Confidential’. ‘Confidential’ material will not be made public. The department reserves the right not to publish submissions.

No breach of confidence will occur if the department shares your submission with a third party referred to under ‘Privacy’ in seeking advice in response to your submission.

Intellectual property: Responsibility for compliance with Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in submissions rests with the author(s). In lodging a submission, you warrant you have not knowingly infringed any third party IPR.  By lodging a submission, you grant the Commonwealth a permanent, irrevocable, royalty-free, world-wide, non-exclusive license to use, copy, reproduce, adapt, communicate and exploit all or any of the material contained in the submission.

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Related links:

  • Uncooked prawns and other prawn products for human consumption
  • Prawns and Prawn Products
  • Animal Biosecurity Advice 2020-A03 – Interim import conditions for uncooked prawns and prawn products imported for human consumption into Australia  
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Last updated: 28 October 2022

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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.