Measures for sea containers under the khapra beetle urgent actions

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. 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.
• See the Summary Flowchart  for an overview of these requirements.

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 khapra risk postcode of Australia (grain or nut growing areas, see postcode list) 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. Learn more at: Urgent actions to protect against khapra beetle.

Note:

• ISO tanks, reefers (including non-operational), flat racks, LCL/FAKs, FCL containers of personal effects 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:

• 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.
• For containers destined for unpack in a rural location (including khapra risk postcodes), a rural tailgate inspection is still required.

We introduced khapra beetle urgent actions in 2020. Since then, we have seen a sustained reduction in the number of khapra beetle detections. Given this reduction and considering impacts on trade, we have paused implementing any further urgent actions.

We will continue to monitor the sea container pathway for detections of khapra beetle. We will reassess the need for any further actions as required.

We will also continue to engage with the international community to lobby for:

• improvements to sea container design
• implementing improved hygiene standards.

The khapra beetle target risk countries are listed below.

• 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
• Türkiye
• United Arab Emirates
• Yemen

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 must be conducted  by a permitted treatment provider.

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.

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, including gas permeable packaging requirements. 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:

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: 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.

Permitted treatment providers

Note: We are utilising the department’s existing offshore treatment provider assurance schemes to manage the registration and compliance of treatment providers, where possible. Leveraging these schemes will provide us with a greater level of assurance of treatment providers’ ability to conduct the required treatments. This includes both the Australian Fumigation Accreditation Scheme (AFAS) and the AusTreat pre-border biosecurity treatment provider scheme. It is strongly recommended that treatments are conducted by a treatment providers approved under one of the department's offshore treatment provider schemes.

Treatment infographic

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

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 60°C 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 60°C 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.

Permitted treatment providers

Note: We are utilising our existing offshore treatment provider assurance schemes to manage the registration and compliance of treatment providers, where possible. Leveraging these schemes will provide us with a greater level of assurance of treatment providers’ ability to conduct the required treatments. This includes both the Australian Fumigation Accreditation Scheme (AFAS) and the AusTreat pre-border biosecurity treatment provider scheme. It is strongly recommended that treatments are conducted by a treatment providers approved under one of the department's offshore treatment provider schemes.

Treatment infographic

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

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 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.

Permitted treatment providers

Treatment infographic

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

Treatment certificates for sea container treatments must meet the department’s minimum requirements, as set out in the relevant BICON cases and the relevant treatment methodology. Treatment certificate templates for each treatment are available via the following links:

• Heat treatment
• Methyl Bromide Fumigation
• Insecticide application.

Notes:

• All treatment providers that are registered with the department will be assigned an AEI number.
• Further information for custom brokers on the use of AEIs for certificates covering khapra beetle sea container treatments can be found on our AEI webpage.
• If a phytosanitary certificate is provided, a treatment certificate issued in accordance with the above requirements is still required.
• We encourage treatment providers to use our treatment certificate templates to ensure they are compliant, which will facilitate clearance of sea containers.

A sealing declaration may be required in some instances. Ensure you use the sealing declaration template.

1. To demonstrate that khapra measures do not apply to a container

As outlined in the summary flowchart, a sealing declaration is required for certain containers to confirm the packing location. For example, sea containers that are packed in a non-khapra beetle country (i.e. containers packed with high-risk plant products or containers destined for a rural khapra risk area of Australia) but:

• the port of loading country is listed as a khapra beetle target risk country on the Bill of Lading; OR
• the supplier/exporter/consignor/shipper is listed as being from a khapra beetle target risk country on the Bill of Lading.

2. To demonstrate that a container has been treated within 21 days prior to export

The date of export is defined in the Minimum documentary and import declaration requirements policy. Under this definition, a consignment is considered to be exported either:

• when it is lodged with the freight forwarder, shipping company/airline, charter operator or an appointed agent in the country of origin, for ultimate destination in Australia
• when it is shipped on board the vessel
• when it is packed in a container and sealed in preparation for export.

As an example, if the container is packed and sealed within 21 days of treatment, the container meets the treatment within 21 days of export requirement. To demonstrate that this requirement has been met a sealing declaration is required. Please refer to the section 9.1 of the Minimum documentary and Import declaration requirements policy for guidance on other options to provide documentary evidence to demonstrate the date of export.

We will seek an import declaration where the goods delivery address indicates a rural khapra risk area but nil khapra concerns have been identified by a broker or where import declarations are amended to a metropolitan or rural non-khapra risk area.

The importer declaration will verify:

• the unpack location of the sea container
• that the goods will be fully unpacked from the non-compliant sea container in a metro location and will not be repacked into the same container for final delivery.

When an importer declaration is requested, ensure you use the below importer declaration template.

The khapra beetle in-transit policy will apply to containers impacted by the requirements for sea containers.

This means that if a treatment provider is listed as suspended, unacceptable, withdrawn or under review, all treatment certification issued by them are considered unacceptable from the date of their change in status.

The date of change in status is the date published on our website, regardless of the date of treatment or the date of issue on the certificate. This includes certification issued both before and after the change in their status, for goods that have not yet been cleared through the border. In this situation, containers may be subject to on-wharf risk containment measures prior to onshore treatment using methyl bromide. Both the goods and the container will require treatment and de-consolidation of the container will generally not be permitted.

Sea container measures summary flowchart

Check if your container needs to comply with the khapra beetle 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.

Posters