25 March 2020

Who does this notice affect?

This notice is of interest to all vessel masters and shipping agents who represent international commercial and non-commercial vessels for the purposes of Australian biosecurity clearance.

What has changed?

The department has updated MARS with a revised question in the Human Health section of the pre-arrival report (PAR) and also in the Human Health Update report.

The question (2.1.7) of the human health section of the PAR was:

25 March 2020

Who does this notice affect?

This notice is for all airlines, freight forwarders, pet transport companies and importers of cats and dogs to Australia.

What has changed?

COVID-19 impact on Cat and Dog imports to Australia

The department is currently handling an unprecedented number of enquiries due to the impact of COVID-19. We appreciate your understanding and patience as we respond to these enquiries.

Date of issue: 24 March 2020

Date of effect: Immediate

Attention:

• Industries—Industry bodies – AHBIC, AFGC
• Licensed exporter
• Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment—Central and Regional offices

Purpose

This Market Access Advice provides information on the recent decision from the European Commission (EC) to accept scanned copies of export certificates in cases where it is not possible to present the original certificate with the consignment.

Date of issue: 24 March 2020

Date of effect: Immediate

Reference Number: MAA 2020-02

Attention:

Date of issue: 24 March 2020

Date of effect: Immediate

Reference Number: MAA2020-07

Attention:

24 March 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 29 March 2020 (AEDT).

Action

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

We have taken steps to maintain export chains while also protecting our staff and clients.

We may need to reassess our processes as we receive new information about the risk of coronavirus (COVID-19).

You still need to follow all existing Australian laws and importing country requirements.

23 March 2020

Who does this notice affect?

Importers and prospective importers of processed plant-based stock feed products including (but not limited to):

20 March 2020

Who does this notice affect?

All importers and customs brokers who are required to lodge imported cargo documentation to the department for biosecurity assessment using recent versions of Google Chrome.

Information

A recent update to Google Chrome is preventing some Cargo Online Lodgement System (COLS) users from submitting lodgements using this browser.

20 March 2020

Who does this notice affect?

This notice is of interest to all vessel masters and shipping agents who represent international commercial and non-commercial vessels for the purposes of Australian biosecurity clearance.