5 August 2019
Who does this notice affect?
Importers, approved arrangements, freight forwarders and brokers that deal with imported cut flowers and foliage and other perishable agricultural products.
What has changed?
From 1 September 2019, import permits will be required to import cut flowers and foliage from Kenya, Colombia and Ecuador.
Only flowers that are produced under a systems approach in these countries will require a permit to be imported into Australia.
Flowers produced and treated using methyl bromide fumigation or an alternative treatment, approved by the country’s National Plant Protection Organisation, will not require a permit to be imported into Australia.
You should apply for a permit well before 1 September 2019. Consignments arriving from 1 September without a valid permit will not be permitted entry to Australia.
We are issuing permits on a country-basis. You may apply for permits for all three countries within the same application.
When you apply for a permit, you must include details of how your supply chain management system will reduce the pest load arriving with your flower shipment in Australia. The control measures that are proposed in the supply chain management system must not include those already required by the country’s National Plant Protection Organisation.
An import permit is valid for four months. We may extend the validity of subsequent permits for importers with low rates of non-compliance.
Applications for further permits will be subject to a review of how effective the previous permit conditions were in preventing the arrival of live pests of biosecurity concern to Australia. You may be required to modify your supply chain management system before we issue another permit. If the pest load of your flower shipments remain high, we may not issue another permit.
Further information
To apply for an import permit visit agriculture.gov.au/cut-flowers-foliage-import-permits
For importing enquiries please phone 1800 900 090 (when prompted press 1 and then 1 again) or email imports@aff.gov.au