18 March 2021
Who does this notice affect?
Stakeholders in the import and shipping industries—including treatment providers, vessel masters, freight forwarders, biosecurity industry participants, importers, customs brokers, principal shipping agents, and any other operators in the sea container supply and logistics chain.
What has changed?
On 5 March 2021, we issued industry advice notice (34-2021) providing further detail on the new measures for sea containers to address the hitchhiking risk of khapra beetle. Under these new measures, target risk sea containers will need to be treated offshore. To assist you in meeting these new measures, we will be running information sessions on each of the approved treatment options.
Information sessions
To assist treatment providers in meeting the new khapra beetle requirements for the offshore treatment of target risk sea containers, we are running information sessions to provide more details on the different forms of treatments and how these changes will affect treatment providers. Please note that each session will cover a different form of treatment.
The information sessions are:
- Methyl bromide fumigation: 15:00 – 17:00 (AEDT), Friday 26 March 2021
- Heat treatment: 15:00 – 17:00 (AEDT), Monday 29 March 2021
- Insecticide treatment: 15:00 – 17:00 (AEDT), Wednesday 31 March 2021
The information sessions will cover:
- Khapra beetle treatment measures for sea containers
- How our existing offshore treatment assurance schemes (the Australian Fumigation Accreditation Scheme and the Offshore Brown Marmorated Stinkbug Treatment Providers Scheme) will be used
- How the requirements of our treatment methodologies apply to the treatment of sea containers.
These sessions will also provide an opportunity for treatment providers to ask questions and seek technical advice from us.
If you wish to attend one or more of the sessions but do not find the times suitable, please email offshoretreatments@aff.gov.au to register your interest in future sessions. Please indicate which treatment you are interested in and your time zone, and we will use this information when planning any future events.
Further information
For more information on the urgent actions visit:
aff.gov.au/khapra-containers
aff.gov.au/khapra-urgent-actions
Enquiries can be directed to 1800 900 090 or via email at imports@aff.gov.au (please title the subject line of the email with ‘Plant Tier 2 – Khapra urgent actions’).