2 April 2020

3 April 2020 

Who does this notice affect? 

Importers of horticultural fresh produce, cut flowers, plants and other plant based commodities. 

This temporary change is relevant to the use of original paper phytosanitary certificates (PCs). It does not apply to countries that already provide original PCs in electronic format, for example, ePhytos or eCerts.

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic is impacting the movement of airfreight and courier mail in multiple countries. 

2 April 2020 

Who does this notice affect? 

The following information is relevant to Biosecurity industry participants and accredited persons under the Class 19.1 Non commodity for containerised cargo clearance (NCCC) and Class 19.2 Automatic entry processing for commodities (AEPCOMM) approved arrangements. This information is also relevant to industry organisations that deliver Continued biosecurity competency (CBC).

The purpose of Continued Biosecurity Competency (CBC) is to provide accredited persons with regular professional development activities, relevant to the approved arrangement class 19. We develop these activities in consultation with industry.

CBC activity topics may include:

Industry Engagement Team

Scope of work

A central point of contact for agriculture, fisheries, forestry food and fibre stakeholders. The team works with other Commonwealth agencies and state governments to ensure industry perspectives inform decisions.

Who does this notice affect? 

Third parties where the department undertakes regulatory work on premise 

Requirements for live sheep exports to, or through, the Middle East during the Northern Hemisphere summer were changed in 2020 after a regulation impact statement (RIS) process.

A prohibition period was introduced under the Australian Meat and Live-stock Industry (Prohibition of Export of Sheep by Sea to Middle East—Northern Summer) Order 2020. The order came into force on 1 May 2020.

Communique - 11 March 2020

The first WA RFA Annual Meeting of Officials took place on 11 March 2020. The meeting was attended by officials from the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment; the WA Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA); and the WA Forest Products Commission (FPC).