Notice to Industry 2: Storage and inspection of imported livestock and equine reproductive material

Reproductive material must be stored either at a:

• department regional office
• class 1.2 AA site.

A list of class 1.2 approved arrangement sites is published on the department’s website.

Class 1.2 AA sites that intend to store or inspect reproductive material must have this biosecurity activity approved by the department prior to being able to store reproductive material on site.

Reproductive material stored at class 1.2 approved arrangement sites must:

• remain within the container or receptacle that they were shipped in with seals intact, and
• be stored within in a secure lockable room or cage.

Inspections and clearances may be carried out by a department biosecurity officer who has been trained in reproductive material clearances, at the following places, provided the locations have the appropriate inspection facilities:

• a department regional office (class 20.0 AA site)
• a Class 1.2 AA site.

Please note that department regional offices only have limited areas for inspection of reproductive material in accordance with Work Health and Safety requirements and shipping tanks may only remain at a department regional office for a maximum period of 24 hours to facilitate the inspection.

Class 1.2 approved arrangement sites where reproductive material is inspected must have inspection facilities that comply with the class 1.2 conditions available on the department’s website.

The person in charge of the goods as listed on the import permit, or a nominated agent, must submit the following information to the regional office to book an inspection:

1. Written notification to import reproductive material at least 3 working days prior to the scheduled date of import.
2. A copy of the valid import permit, the finalised health certificate/s and associated documents e.g. endorsed laboratory reports is required 3-5 days prior to import.
3. Request for inspection of the consignment (please note that inspection appointments will be allocated according to the order of receipt of the request and the provision of compliant documentation).

The person in charge of the goods, or their agent, must obtain a booking confirmation before presenting a shipping tank to a department office for inspection. They must provide the AIMS entry number before the inspection.

Regional office contacts are as follows:

Melbourne – SEAnimal@aff.gov.au

Sydney – CERAnimalImports@aff.gov.au

Brisbane – qldliveanimalimports@aff.gov.au

Perth – animalswa@aff.gov.au

The person in charge of the goods as listed on the import permit, or a nominated agent, must pay for the inspection as per the department charging guidelines which can be found in ‘Section 4: Biosecurity Cost Recovery Arrangement’.

Fees for storage at 1.2 AA sites are set by the entities operating those sites.

Any industry participants wishing to apply for a class 1.2 AA site approval for storage/inspection of reproductive material must seek guidance from aa.canberra@aff.gov.au about how to apply.

Applicants applying for a new class 1.2 will need to apply for an approved arrangement with non-standard conditions. Existing class 1.2 AA holders will need to apply for a variation of their AA to add non-standard conditions for inspection of reproductive material.

Applications to store or inspection reproductive material must be submitted on the manual application for available on the department’s website.