4 August 2020
Who does this notice affect?
Importers of:
- plant, animal or microbial derived ingredients for use in pet and other animal food processing
- seeds, nuts, fresh produce and other unprocessed plant material such as cotton, jute and hops
- other animal and microbial materials such as microalgae, unscoured wool and untanned hides and skins.
Also, manufacturers and processors of these materials, and biosecurity industry participants that hold approval for approved arrangement class 3.0.
What has changed?
The Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment has updated conditions for Approved Arrangements (AA) class 3.0 to strengthen the management of biosecurity risk associated with the onshore processing of imported plant and animal materials.
The revised conditions for AA class 3.0 include:
- new conditions for receiving, unpacking and verifying goods subject to biosecurity control onsite and processing equipment
- updating conditions for onsite hygiene and pest and disease monitoring
- new conditions for release of goods subject to biosecurity control authorising the biosecurity industry participant (BIP) to release goods that have been processed in accordance with the conditions of the arrangement and import conditions. This removes the need for the BIP to submit a request to release to the department.
AA class 3.0 is used for receiving, storing, inspecting and processing goods at a facility under biosecurity control. Any offsite facilities used to store imported goods before being sent for processing at an AA class 3.0 facility must also have the appropriate approved arrangement in place.
Apply for an AA class 3.0 – plant materials
Before applying, you must first complete our processing questionnaire.
Apply for an AA class 3.0 – animal and microbial materials
To apply for an AA class 3.0 for importing animal materials see 3.0 - processing requirements.
Existing AA class 3.0 sites
We will run a process to vary the AAs of BIPs who have existing class 3.0 AAs. This process will update existing AAs to the revised class 3.0 conditions.
Australia’s agricultural sector continues to experience the impacts of floods, drought, bushfires and the COVID-19 pandemic. There is also the changing threat of new and emerging plant and animal pests and diseases.
Strengthening our biosecurity risk management requirements for onshore processing of imported plant and animal materials is part of our work to support Australian industries that rely on agricultural imports, while also ensuring that our biosecurity status remains protected.
Further information
If you have questions or intend to process both plant and animal materials at the same AA class 3.0 facility, you can contact our Import Services team on:
- Email at imports. Please include the type of imported material in the subject line.
- Phone (from within Australia): 1800 900 090
- Phone (from outside Australia): + 61 3 8318 6700