31 May 2017
Who does this notice affect?
Importers of fresh stone fruit from the USA under the following tariff codes:
- Cherries (Prunus avium)- (0809.29.00)
- Apricots (Prunus armeniaca)- (0809.10.00)
- Peaches, including nectarines (Prunus persica and P. persica var. nucipersica)- (0809.30.00)
- Plums (Prunus salicina)- (0809.40.00)
- Fresh interspecific stone fruit hybrids of permitted apricots, nectarines, peaches and plums.
What has changed?
The Department of Agriculture and Water Resources is working towards a future compliance-based operating model to increase resource efficiencies and offer cost reductions to importers that demonstrate a high level of compliance. The Compliance-Based Inspection Scheme (CBIS) allows for eligible imports of fresh stone fruit to qualify for reduced inspections once an importer has established a history of compliance.
Imports of fresh stone fruit from the USA that will be inspected on arrival and that have not been offshore pre-shipment inspected (OPI) will be eligible for the CBIS from 28 June 2017. From this time, importers that demonstrate good compliance by importing 5 consecutive consignments of fresh stone fruit that pass inspection will qualify for reduced inspection frequency on subsequent consignments.
Please note that USA stone fruit are being added to the CBIS intwo groups: cherries and other eligible stone fruit. This means that 5 passes on cherry consignments will qualify importers for reduced inspection on cherry consignments only. Similarly, to qualify for reduced inspection on other stone fruit, 5 passes will need to be achieved for any of the other stone fruit species listed above.
The import conditions for fresh stone fruit from the USA have not changed.
What do I need to do?
Importers and brokers should continue to lodge documentation to the department as per their current practice. When a consignment is lodged in the Integrated Cargo System (ICS) under one of the eligible tariff codes, you will be prompted to answer profile questions to determine if your consignment is within scope of the scheme. Please note that only the tariff codes listed above are eligible for the CBIS. Broader stone fruit tariffs (i.e. 0809 and 0809.2) are not eligible.
The assessment for eligibility of reduced inspections happens automatically in the Agriculture Import Management System (AIMS) and does not require any additional action.
How does the Compliance-Based Inspection Scheme work?
Importers must initially pass a minimum number of consecutive inspections in order to demonstrate sufficient compliance. For both USA cherries and other USA stone fruit, this number will be 5. After an importer has qualified and provided that compliance with the import conditions continues to be maintained, only 25% of their subsequent imports of fresh USA stone fruit will be directed for inspection. This 25% will be randomly selected using automatic rules in AIMS.
If an importer fails to present the correct documentation, or their consignment fails inspection then they will return to 100% inspection until they requalify for the reduced inspection rate.
All consignments are subject to a documentation assessment before being released by the department, so it is important that you lodge all required documentation for assessment in the Cargo Online Lodgement System (COLs).
Further information
More information will be published on the Compliance-Based Inspection Scheme web page.
For further information please email Plant Import Operations (please include ‘Tier 2 – CBIS’ in the subject heading) or phone 1800 900 090.