Requirements for sea containers to protect against khapra beetle

As of 12 April 2021, Full Container Load/Full Container Consolidated (FCL/FCX) containers packed with high-risk plant products in a khapra beetle target risk country must be treated offshore using an approved treatment option.

The container must be:

• treated prior to packing, except if using methyl bromide fumigation
  • If using methyl bromide fumigation, the container can be treated when empty or when packed (provided it complies with our requirements)
• treated within 21 days prior to export
• accompanied by appropriate certification.

Failure to comply with these requirements will result in the export of the container upon arrival in Australia.

Important: The target of these treatments is the container and not the goods/commodity being shipped within the container. However, the goods may also need to be treated offshore under Phase 3 of the urgent actions. Learn more at: Urgent actions to protect against khapra beetle.

Note:

• ISO tanks, reefers (including non-operational), flat racks, LCL/FAKs and containers imported as empties are excluded from these requirements.
• Refer to the BICON case: Khapra beetle sea container measures for the full requirements.
• In some instances, a sealing declaration may be required.
• See the Summary Flowchart  for an overview of these requirements.

As of 12 July 2021, Full Container Load/Full Container Consolidated (FCL/FCX) containers that are packed in a khapra beetle target risk country and will be unpacked in a rural grain growing area of Australia (see below postcode list) must be treated offshore using an approved treatment option. These measures apply to the above containers exported on or from 12 July 2021.

As notified in IAN 232-2021, this measure has been expanded to further minimise the risk of the introduction and spread of khapra beetle to high-risk rural areas.

As part of this, Full Container Load/Full Container Consolidated (FCL/FCX) containers that are packed in a khapra beetle target risk country and will be unpacked in a rural nut growing postcode of Australia (see below postcode list) must be treated offshore using an approved treatment option. This requirement will only apply to containers exported on or after 15 December 2021.

The container must be:

• treated prior to packing, except if using methyl bromide fumigation
  • If using methyl bromide fumigation, the container can be treated when empty or when packed (provided it complies with our requirements)
• treated within 21 days prior to export
• accompanied by appropriate certification.

Failure to comply with these requirements will result in the export of the container upon arrival in Australia.

Important: The target of these treatments is the container and not the goods/commodity being shipped within the container. However, the goods may also need to be treated offshore under Phase 3 of the urgent actions. Learn more at: Urgent actions to protect against khapra beetle.

Note:

• ISO tanks, reefers (including non-operational), flat racks, LCL/FAKs and containers imported as empties are excluded from these requirements.
• Refer to the BICON case: Non-commodity cargo clearance for the full requirements.
• In some instances, a sealing declaration may be required.
• In some instances, an importer declaration may be required.

Note:

• Postcodes now included to cover rural nut growing areas are: 4569, 4517, 4518, 4858 and 4560. For split postcodes, measures will apply to the rural areas of the postcode only. Postcode classifications can be found using the department’s postcode classification search tool.

From 15 December 2021, the postcode classification ‘rural/grain growing’ was updated to ‘rural khapra risk’. This classification applies to both rural grain and nut growing areas.

• Afghanistan
• Albania
• Algeria
• Bangladesh
• Benin
• Burkina Faso
• Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
• Cyprus
• Egypt
• Ghana
• Greece
• India
• Iran Islamic Republic of
• Iraq
• Israel
• Kuwait
• Lebanon
• Libya
• Mali
• Mauritania
• Morocco
• Myanmar
• Nepal
• Niger
• Nigeria
• Oman
• Pakistan
• Qatar
• Saudi Arabia
• Senegal
• Somalia
• South Sudan
• Sri Lanka
• Sudan
• Syrian Arab Republic
• Timor-Leste
• Tunisia
• Turkey
• United Arab Emirates
• Yemen

NOTE: See the methyl bromide fumigation infographic for a summary of these requirements.

Treatment rate

The container must be fumigated offshore with methyl bromide at

• a dose of 80 g/m³ or above, at 21°C or above, for a minimum of 48 hours, with an end point reading of 20 g/m³ or above OR
• a dose of 88 g/m³ or above, at 16°C or above, for a minimum of 48 hours, with an end point reading of 22 g/m³ or above OR
• a dose of 96 g/m³ or above, at 11°C or above, for a minimum of 48 hours, with an end point reading of 24 g/m³ or above OR
• a dose of 104 g/m³ or above, at 10°C or above, for a minimum of 48 hours, with an end point reading of 26 g/m³ or above.

Note: Dose increases to compensate for temperatures less than 10°C are NOT permitted.

Treatment requirements

The fumigations/treatments must comply with the following requirements:

• All treatments must be conducted in a gas-tight chamber or sheeted enclosure, with both container doors fully open.
• All treatments must be conducted in accordance with the Methyl Bromide Fumigation Methodology.
• All treatments require 3 monitoring lines as specified in the Methyl Bromide Fumigation Methodology, and 1 extra monitoring line underneath the container. Readings from all 4 monitoring lines must be included on the Record of Fumigation.
• All treatments must be conducted by a treatment provider listed as “acceptable” on the list of offshore treatment providers.

Treating the container and the goods at the same time

For methyl bromide treatments, containers may be treated at the same time as goods/commodities, after the goods/commodities have been loaded into the container. These treatments must still comply with the treatment requirements outlined above, including having 1 extra monitoring line underneath the container, in addition to the 3 monitoring lines required by the Methyl Bromide Fumigation Methodology.

If the commodity being imported also requires methyl bromide treatment, one treatment can be conducted to meet both the container and the commodity treatment conditions, provided the commodity meets the consignment suitability requirements of the Methyl Bromide Fumigation Methodology. To meet both sets of conditions, the highest treatment parameter of each rate must be met.

This includes the:

• dose
• start point concentration
• temperature
• exposure period
• end point concentration reading.

For example, if one treatment was conducted to meet the import conditions for a target risk container AND timber pallets, the highest parameter out of the two treatment rates would need to be met.

Worked example with highest parameter bolded:

Target of fumigation	Dose	Temperature	Exposure period	End point concentration
Container	80 g/m³ or above	21°C or above	minimum of 48 hours	20 g/m3 or above
Timber pallets	48 g/m3 or above	21°C or above	minimum of 24 hours	14.4 g/m3 or above

This means that the final rate applied to combined container and timber packaging treatment would be:

• fumigated with a dose of 80 g/m³ or above, at 21°C or above, for a minimum of 48 hours, with an end point reading of 20 g/m3 or above.

Note: Phases 3 and 4 of the urgent actions introduces offshore treatment requirements for high-risk plant products and other risk plant products. Fumigation of the container and goods at the same time may not be an option in some instances. See Urgent actions to protect against khapra beetle webpage for more detail.

NOTE: See the heat treatment infographic for a summary of these requirements.

Treatment rate

The container must be heat treated offshore to at least 60°C for a minimum of 180 minutes.

Treatment requirements

The heat treatment must be conducted:

• in accordance with the Heat Treatment Methodology
• prior to loading the goods/commodity into the container
• in a sheeted enclosure, with one container door open and one container door closed
• with at least one of the temperature sensors positioned within the door hinge of the door that is closed, in the bottom corner underneath the rubber seal
• by a permitted treatment provider.

Note: While the effective heat treatment rate for all life stages of khapra beetle is 60oC for a minimum of two hours, we require three hours to heat treat containers because:

• khapra beetle is often detected between the floorboards and bottom metal rails of sea containers
• in a trial we conducted we found these areas can take longer to reach 60oC than other areas in the container
• it is difficult to position temperature sensors in this area without drilling into the container floor
• in our trial, we also determined that the temperature within the door hinge of the closed door underneath the rubber seal was a suitable proxy for the underfloor area of the container, provided that target temperature was achieved for an additional hour.

NOTE: See the insecticide spray infographic for a summary of these requirements.

Insecticide spray with a product containing the active constituent deltamethrin will be offered as a provisional treatment option only. This means that non-compliance will be monitored closely and will inform the longevity of this treatment method.

As this is a provisional measure, we are strongly encouraging industry to use methyl bromide fumigation or heat treatment over an insecticide spray.

Treatment rate

Prior to packing, the following areas of the sea container must be treated with a suspension concentrate formulated insecticide product, containing the active constituent deltamethrin:

• the internal and external underside of the floor
• the internal and external lower portion of the three walls and doors up to 1m
• the door seals.

The treatment must be applied at a rate of 1 litre spray solution, with a concentration of 0.03% or above, per 20m², applied as a coarse spray of 350 to 400 microns.

Treatment requirements

The insecticide treatment must be conducted in accordance with the Insecticide Treatment Methodology.

Note: To avoid potential contamination of the products with insecticide, importers should line the interior of the sea container and bag the products.

It is it is the importer's responsibility to ensure that all imported food complies with the Imported Food Control Act 1992 including Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code; and that imported animal and pet food complies with the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals Code (MRL Standard) Instrument 2019.

Country of treatment	Permitted treatment providers
AFAS countries (includes Sri Lanka & India)	The treatment must be conducted by an approved AFAS treatment provider, unless the container is accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate. Notes: Unless the container is accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate, treatments conducted by non-AFAS treatment providers in an AFAS country will not be accepted and the container will be directed for export on-arrival in Australia. This condition also applies to target risk containers that are transhipped from a khapra beetle target risk country via an AFAS country for treatment.
Non-AFAS countries (i.e. all khapra beetle target risk countries except for Sri Lanka & India)	Treatments conducted by treatment providers that are not registered under one of the department’s offshore treatment provider assurance schemes will be accepted. It is strongly recommended that the treatment is conducted by a treatment provider approved under the Offshore Brown Marmorated Stink Bug Treatment Providers Scheme. Register by completing the application form on this webpage. Treatments conducted by treatment providers that are listed as unacceptable on the Offshore methyl bromide treatment providers list will not be accepted.

Country of treatment	Permitted treatment providers
All countries	Treatments conducted by treatment providers that are not registered will be accepted. However, it is strongly recommended that the treatment is conducted by a treatment provider approved under the Offshore Brown Marmorated Stink Bug Treatment Providers Scheme. Register by completing the application form on this webpage.

Country of treatment	Permitted treatment providers
All countries	Treatments conducted by treatment providers that are not registered will be accepted. However, we strongly encourage all treatment providers interested in conducting insecticide treatments to register their interest at: Offshoretreatments@agriculture.gov.au

In 2021, we ran information sessions on the sea container measures, including the approved treatment options for sea containers:

• 23, 25 and 26 February – Phase 6A – sea container requirements
• 26 and 29 March – Phase 6A – methyl bromide
• 30 March – Phase 6A – heat treatment
• 31 March – Phase 6A – insecticide treatment
• 16 August – Phase 6A – sea containers.

If you would like further detail on the information sessions, including copies of the presentations or questions and answers from these sessions please get in contact by emailing SPP@agriculture.gov.au (please title the subject line of the email with ‘Khapra urgent actions’).

Check if your container needs to comply with the khapra beetle Phase 6A sea container measures using the below flowchart.

Note: If you require a sealing declaration (as per the flowchart), ensure you use the sealing declaration template.

The following posters on sea container cleanliness have been developed for your use. Help us keep khapra beetle out of Australia by sharing them with your networks.

Poster 1: Look out for khapra beetle

Poster 2: Seven tips for keeping containers clean

The following treatment infographics have been developed for your use. Help us keep khapra beetle out of Australia by sharing them with your networks.

The following infographics have been developed for your use. They detail AEI reporting and onshore assessment requirements.

What does a snail almost the size of a dinner plate, a beetle smaller than a grain of rice, and an ant with a fiery sting have in common? They are all excellent hitchhiker pests!

Keeping sea containers clean is critical to stopping the spread of hitchhiker pests. Learn how you can help us fight the battle against hitchhiker pests.

Video transcript - Sea container cleanliness (DOCX 37 KB)

Sea container cleanliness video: Chinese (Mandarin) translation

Translation courtesy of Shenzhen Academy of Inspection and Quarantine, China.

Video transcript - Sea container cleanliness: Chinese (Mandarin) translation (DOCX 230 KB