14 December 2020

Who does this notice affect?

All clients required to use the department’s Biosecurity Import Conditions (BICON) system during this planned maintenance period.

Information

Due to scheduled infrastructure maintenance, BICON users may experience several intermittent outages from 16:00 to 23:59 on Sunday 20 December 2020 (AEDT).

Action

Users are advised to frequently save any in-progress permit applications during this maintenance period.

The Future Drought Fund (FDF) aims to improve drought and climate resilience. This includes economic, social and environmental resilience of Australian agriculture, communities and landscapes.

Monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) helps us understand how the FDF and its programs are achieving its aims.

The FDF provided strong initial investments in its first 4 years (2020 to 2024). The next 4 years present opportunities for enhanced outcomes.

11 December 2020

Who does this notice affect?

Importers and brokers of:

• Fresh truss and loose tomatoes from New Zealand
• Fresh persimmons from New Zealand
• Fresh mandarins from the United States
• Dried permitted species of mushrooms and truffles

What has changed?

The department is incorporating a number of new commodities onto the Compliance Based Intervention Scheme (CBIS). This change is scheduled to take effect on 18 December 2020.

11 December 2020

Purpose

This Industry Advice Notice (IAN) is for all Australian horticulture exporters sending product to Indonesia that require Indonesian importers to apply for a Recommendation to Import Horticulture (RIPH) from the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) and an import licence from the Ministry of Trade (MoT).

11 December 2020

Who does this notice affect?

All importers and customs brokers who will be required to lodge imported cargo documentation to the department for biosecurity assessment during this planned outage period.

All clients who will be required to make an online payment during this planned outage period.   

All importers of plants, cats and/or dogs who will be required to use the Post Entry Biosecurity System during this planned outage.

11 December 2020

Purpose

This Industry Advice Notice (IAN) is to advise industry and Authorised Officers about arrangements for plant exports systems and services during the Christmas and New Year period.

10 December 2020

Purpose

This Industry Advice Notice (IAN) is to notify stakeholders of updates to the Plant Exports Management System (PEMS).

10 December 2020

Who does this notice affect?

Importers of COVID-19 vaccines.

Background

The Australian Government is doing all that it can to minimise the impacts of coronavirus (COVID-19). This means working to ensure goods, including COVID-19 vaccines can enter Australia as quickly and efficiently as possible, while meeting import requirements. The following information is provided to assist importers to minimise delays in the border clearance process.

From 1 January 2021, a Plant Health Australia (PHA) levy component at a rate of $1.00 per tonne will be introduced to dried vine fruits sub-variant of the dried fruits levy that is imposed on dried fruits received for processing.

Dried vine fruit producers will benefit from increased biosecurity measures to protect their industry and a more equitable funding mechanism for their biosecurity activities.

Changes to the levy rates are shown in the table below: