23 March 2021
Who does this notice affect?
Importers and customs brokers of live plant material with an end use as nursery stock.
What has changed?
The Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (the department) is implementing community protection (CP) questions on tariffs related to live plant material for use as nursery stock. This change is scheduled to take effect on 1 May 2021.
The following CP questions will now be required to be answered in the Integrated Cargo System (ICS) when lodging declarations under tariffs 0601 and 0602:
- BIOSECURITY: ARE THE GOODS ACCOMPANIED BY PHYTOSANITARY CERTIFICATION THAT SHOWS THE GOODS ARE TISSUE CULTURES?
- BIOSECURITY: ARE THE GOODS ACCOMPANIED BY PHYTOSANITARY CERTIFICATION THAT SHOWS THE GOODS ARE TISSUE CULTURES THAT HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM MEDIA?
This change has been made to assist the department to identify and monitor specific nursery stock import pathways.
What do I need to do?
Customs brokers lodging declarations in ICS on or after 1 May 2021 under tariffs 0601 and 0602 will need to answer the related CP questions as follows:
BIOSECURITY: ARE THE GOODS ACCOMPANIED BY PHYTOSANITARY CERTIFICATION THAT SHOWS THE GOODS ARE TISSUE CULTURES?
- Customs brokers must answer ‘Y’ to this question if the plant material is in the form of tissue culture (regardless if the tissue culture is in media/agar or not) and is accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate.
- Customs brokers must answer ‘N’ to this question if the plant material is in the form of tissue culture and not accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate.
- Customs brokers must answer ‘N’ to this question if the goods are other forms of planting material i.e., bulbs, budwood, cuttings, bare-rooted plants etc.
BIOSECURITY: ARE THE GOODS ACCOMPANIED BY PHYTOSANITARY CERTIFICATION THAT SHOWS THE GOODS ARE TISSUE CULTURES THAT HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM MEDIA?
- Customs brokers must answer ‘Y’ to this question if the plant material is tissue culture that has been removed from media i.e., tissue cultures ex-agar and is accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate.
- Customs brokers must answer ‘N’ to this question if the plant material is tissue culture that has been removed from media and not accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate.
- Customs brokers must answer ‘N’ to this question if the plant material is tissue culture in media/agar or the goods are other forms of planting material i.e., bulbs, budwood, cuttings, bare-rooted plants, etc.
Having a phytosanitary certificate is integral to the biosecurity clearance of nursery stock. The department encourages customs brokers to obtain appropriate documentation prior to lodging the declaration.
Further information
More information on the types of plant material for use as nursery stock and tissue cultures free of media can be found on the department’s Importing live plants and Approved sources of tissue cultures free of media webpages.
Enquiries can be directed to 1800 900 090 or via email at imports@agriculture.gov.au.