22 April 2021
Who does this notice affect?
All importers of marine and freshwater ornamental finfish. The department will directly contact current permit holders about this change.
What has changed?
The Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment will remove countries from the approved country lists for marine and freshwater ornamental finfish that have not exported any live ornamental finfish to Australia over the past 10 years.
Why is the department making this change?
The department manages biosecurity risk across the biosecurity continuum from pre-border trading partner evaluations and approvals, at the border inspections, and post border measures. The countries listed below have not had their competent authorities, or fish health certifying agencies, assessed under current departmental processes, and have not exported ornamental finfish to Australia for at least 10 years. Therefore, they are to be removed from the approved country lists.
The countries that will be removed from the freshwater approved countries list are:
- Belgium
- the Federated States of Micronesia
- Fiji
- French Polynesia
- Honduras
- Kenya
- New Caledonia
- Nicaragua
- the Philippines
- Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
- Senegal
- Seychelles
- the Solomon Islands
- Republic of South Africa
The countries that will be removed from the marine approved countries list are:
- Kingdom of Bahrain
- Belgium
- the Federated States of Micronesia
- French Polynesia
- Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
- Senegal
- Seychelles
- Republic of South Africa
- Tanzania
From 30 May 2021, the approved countries list will be updated, and the countries listed above will no longer be able to export live ornamental finfish to Australia.
Should interest in this trade eventuate in the future, exporting countries would be welcome to apply for market access for this commodity. The granting of market access will be dependent on the successful completion of a competent authority evaluation assessing the capacity of the country to regulate ornamental finfish production and export systems to meet Australia’s biosecurity standards.
For those countries that continue to export live ornamental finfish to Australia and have not yet had a competent authority evaluation under the current departmental processes, the department plans to undertake these evaluations progressively as resources allow.
Further information
Information about the import conditions for live ornamental finfish, including the approved country lists for marine and freshwater ornamental finfish is available on the department’s Biosecurity Import Conditions system (BICON).
If you require further information or would like to make a submission, please email aquaticbiosecurity@awe.gov.au