11 October 2023
Who does this notice affect?
All importers and customs brokers who lodge consignments of green coffee beans under tariff 0901.1 to the department for biosecurity assessment, and biosecurity industry participants and accredited persons operating under the department’s class 19.2 automatic entry processing for commodities (AEPCOMM) approved arrangement.
What has changed?
Effective Wednesday 11 October 2023, a new CP question will be introduced on green coffee beans lodged under tariff 0901.1 in the Integrated Cargo System (ICS) on containerised (FCL/X) consignments which asks:
- “ARE THE GOODS PACKED LOOSE IN CONTAINER”?
If a “Yes” answer is provided to this question, consignments of green coffee beans eligible under the HCI scheme and imported as bulk loose in containers will now be issued with a HCI Insp - secure seals intact direction.
The coffee for processing or human consumption BICON case has also been updated to reflect the abovementioned changes.
Reason for change
Bulk green coffee beans packed loose in containers pose an increased biosecurity risk compared with green coffee beans that are bagged. The department has identified that importers who manage both bagged and bulk green coffee beans may not be receiving the full benefits of the HCI scheme. As a result of these changes, each importer will now have two separate inspection compliance groups under the HCI scheme that correspond to the way in which the goods are packed (bagged or bulk).
Key points
These changes will not impact inspection outcomes for consignments of bagged green coffee beans under the HCI scheme.
Verification rates for green coffee beans under the AEPCOMM approved arrangement will also be unaffected by this change.
Further information
Please refer to the Highly Compliant Importer page on the department’s website, or contact AEP Support.