10 February 2026
Who does this notice affect?
Importers of rice for human consumption, biosecurity industry participants and accredited persons operating under the department’s approved arrangement class 19.2.
What has changed?
The department is running a verification operation on imported rice for human consumption.
This operation aims to verify compliance with Australia’s import conditions to manage khapra beetle associated risks in raw rice exported from khapra beetle target risk countries. Selected consignments will undergo enhanced verification of pre-export treatments, documentation and on-arrival inspections to ensure effective risk management.
Commencement date
This operation will commence on 16 February 2026 and will impact a pre-determined number of rice consignments.
Impacts on rice consignment processing
This operation is not expected to significantly impact current clearance timeframes or processes for rice imports.
Industry stakeholders should be aware of the following key information:
- Approved Arrangement Class 19.2 ineligibility
Rice consignments selected for verification will no longer be eligible for Approved Arrangement Class 19.2. These consignments must undergo a full documentation assessment by the department, which will incur assessment service fees as per the department’s Biosecurity Cost Recovery Schedule.
Note: Both Class 19.2 and Non-Class 19.2 processed consignments will be targeted. Verification of accredited persons assessments via Approved Arrangement Class 19.2 is out of scope and not a part of this operation.
- Additional document requirements – Record of Fumigation
For rice consignments selected for verification, a biosecurity direction will be issued requesting the Record of Fumigation (RoF) for offshore treatment to be submitted. The assessment of the RoF will not incur an additional fee for service.
Note: The RoF is not the same as the Fumigation Certificate and is a separate document that will need to be requested from the Treatment Provider, to verify that all requirements of Section 12.1 in the Guide to performing QPS fumigations with methyl bromide v3.0 are met.
- Enhanced inspection procedure
All rice consignments are currently inspected on arrival. For consignments selected for verification, Biosecurity Officers will photograph the consignment and packaging. This may increase inspection booking allocations by approximately 15 minutes and will incur associated fees.
- Managing non-compliance
Any identified non-compliance in consignments will continue to be managed in line with existing noncompliance procedures to manage biosecurity risks. Any systemic trends or recurring issues identified through this verification activity may inform future policy refinements and support ongoing engagement with importers and offshore trading partners.
What is driving this?
This operation is prompted by an increase in non-compliance with documentation, treatment and packaging requirements, and increased onshore detections of live pests in treated rice consignments. Findings from this operation will be used to evaluate overall performance of the current regulatory arrangements and strengthen khapra beetle risk management measures where required.
Further information
For all questions relating to this operation, contact Plant Import Operations via email at imports@aff.gov.au (please title the subject line of the email 'Plant T2 - Khapra urgent actions') or by phone on 1800 900 090.