eBulletin No. 03-2009 March
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- Cargo Management eBulletin—No. 03-2009 (March)
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- Alternate timber pests technology trial
- QAP renewal 2009
- Philippines fruit fly interception
- Electronic lodgement of import documents
- Entry Management National Coordination Centre
- National Manager, Cargo Management and Shipping
- AQIS/Industry Cargo Consultative Committee (AICCC)—Meeting 52
- Topics covered in recent eBulletins
- Questions, comments and suggestions
- Summary of documents and alerts raised by AQIS Cargo Management in March 2009
Alternate timber pests technology trial
AQIS officers from Canberra and Victoria took part in an alternate technology trial at the Melbourne office on 5–6 March 2009. The trial was designed to determine the effectiveness of a range of technology and equipment for possible use in AQIS inspections for detecting insect and termites present in imported timber and timber products. The trial tested over 120 naturally infested, artificially inoculated and control samples.
AQIS has been using visual inspection, detector dogs and X-ray (on a limited scale only) to detect pests on imported timber products and imported yachts. However, there have been many problems associated with such inspections as detector dogs and X-rays are not always available at all inspection points. Also training of dogs and their maintenance, along with skilled x-ray operators and Occupational Health and Safety concerns remains a big obstacle for use of such techniques.
The equipment tested in the trial included an acoustic device, X-ray, Therma CAM E25 infrared thermal imaging camera, moisture tester, microwave technology, as well as visual inspection and dogs. Data on the presence or absence of insects was recorded using two independent operators. Samples from the current trial have also been used for a second freezing trial in Melbourne to determine the efficacy of cold temperatures on controlling pests or termites present in timber. Detailed reports with recommendations will be prepared on the effectiveness of both the alternate technologies and the freezing treatment.
QAP renewal 2009
QAPs are approved on an annual basis, coinciding with the financial year. Current approvals for all QAPs will expire on 30 June 2009. QAP operators who wish to continue to operate QAPs in 2009/10 will need to renew their QAP approval.
The QAP approval/renewal process will start in mid-April when AQIS will send a 2009 QAP Renewal Package to all QAP operators. The package will include:
- a QAP Renewal of Approval Application form (and a reply-paid, pre-addressed envelope for return of this form)
- an invoice and payment form (and a reply-paid, pre-addressed envelope for return of the payment)
- Step-by-step instructions for completing the renewal process
- Frequently asked questions on the renewal process.
To renew QAP approvals, QAP operators must return the QAP Renewal of Approval Application form and pay the QAP fee no later than 15 June 2009. QAP operators that fail to renew their QAP approval by this date can expect their QAP approval to expire on 1 July 2009. Upon expiry of QAP approvals, operators will no longer be permitted to handle quarantine material.
Further information on the 2009 QAP renewal process including QAP renewal documentation, renewal instructions, frequently asked questions and AQIS QAP officer contact details is available on the AQIS website.
Philippines fruit fly interception
On 18 February 2009, Melbourne Airport officer Anh Nguyen intercepted a live specimen of the exotic Philippines Fruit Fly, Bactrocera philippinensis. The find was confirmed after Anh intercepted the fly from dried fish/plant material from the Philippines and forwarded it onto Entomology for identification.
The impact of this and like seizures cannot be underestimated. Should pests such as these establish in Australia, they would cost millions of dollars in lost production and eradication costs and impact heavily on horticultural industries. In 1997 there was an incursion of the Philippines Fruit Fly in Darwin which eventually cost the federal and state governments $5 million and two years to eradicate. The Operational Science Program's Victorian Manager, Mark Whattam, presented Anh with a certification of recognition for the significant detection on behalf of the Victorian region and the Operational Science Program.
Electronic lodgement of import documents
Cargo Management eBulletin No 11-2008, advised industry of the full implementation of email lodgement for all brokers from 24 November 2008.
Implementation has proven successful with regional AQIS offices reporting an uptake of approximately 90 per cent for email lodgement compared to Zetafax.
Guidelines for electronic lodgement of import documentation and the national email coversheet are available on the AQIS website.
The existing electronic lodgement system (Zetafax) has limitations and will be phased out over the coming year. Brokers are therefore encouraged to implement lodgement of import documentation by email, as an alternative to Zetafax.
For further information, please contact the Entry Management Team on 02 6272 3390 or by email. Alternatively you may contact the Entry Management section in the relevant AQIS Regional Office.
Entry Management National Coordination Centre
The Entry Management National Coordination Centre (EMNCC) in the Adelaide AQIS office continues to progressively assume responsibility for a range of entry management activities that have historically been undertaken in individual AQIS regional offices. By centralising this function, AQIS aims to improve consistency, efficiency and effectiveness of entry management processes.
As outlined in Notice to Industry 9-2009, a trial of processing West Australian entries by the EMNCC commenced in early November 2008. Given the success of this trial, the NCC commenced entry processing of all of WA’s electronically lodged documentation, from 30 March 2009, with WA retaining it’s front counter operations as the only aspect of entry processing.
This responsibility adds to the previous list of EMNCC functions, being:
- management of outstanding entries
- receipt of treatment results and finalisation of treatment directions
- entry processing for pig meat entries.
National Manager, Cargo Management and Shipping
On 2 April 2009, Jonathan Benyei was promoted into the position of National Manager of the Cargo Management and Shipping Branch. Jonathan previously worked in a number of regulatory roles in the Department of Health and Ageing.
After nine months acting as National Manager, Robert Langlands will be returning to his substantive role as the National Program Manager of the Import Clearance Program. The branch would like to thank Robert for his work in this important position.
AQIS/Industry Cargo Consultative Committee (AICCC)—Meeting 52
The 52nd AICCC meeting was held on 30 March 2009. The committee received a detailed briefing on all aspects of the Beale Review including the proposed restructure of the organisation that when finalised is due to come into effect on 1 July 2009. The majority of discussion centered around the recommendations of the review that will have a direct impact on the Cargo Management and Shipping industry and an agreed way forward that ensures timely implementation. A small AICCC working group is in the process of developing a document that will form the basis of monitoring process, projects and all activities that arise from the review recommendations.
Progress on major projects such as the Import Conditions Database redevelopment, the Giant African Snail trials, and the Self Assessed Clearance review were reported and discussed.
Detailed and wide ranging discussions covered the financial positions of programs and the current review of a new fee structure which has been reported in previous Cargo Management eBulletins. The Finance Committee of the AICCC continues to have ongoing discussions on this issue.
The committee also noted and discussed activity reports from all stakeholder programs and reports from other consultative and AQIS committees.
The next meeting will be held on 22 July 2009 in Canberra.
Topics covered in recent eBulletins
Recent Cargo Management eBulletins have included the following topics: Thai Delegations, Giant African Snail (GAS) Review, Import Clearance Effectiveness (ICE) Report and the Integrated Cargo System (ICS) Profile Survey, External Container Inspection Regime (ECIR) workshop, Recent PQD detections, Industry and AQIS act quickly Post Quarantine Detection (PQD) in Tasmania, Review of the Broker Accreditation Scheme (BAS), AICCC Meeting #51 held in Sydney 10 December 2008, Cost Recovery Arrangements 2009/2010, Beale Review, Australia Day Achievement Award for Import Clearance Staff, Live hairy larvae alerts AQIS.
Questions, comments and suggestions
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions about the Cargo Management eBulletin please do not hesitate to email us or the AICCC secretariat.
Summary of documents and alerts released by AQIS Cargo Management in March 2009
|
Document |
Overview |
|---|---|
| Notice to Industry 6-2009 | AQIS Offshore Machinery Inspection Capacity—May/June 2009 |
| Notice to Industry 7-2009 | Safety of Irradiated Pet (Cat) Foods—Update to Notice 33/2008-09 |
| Notice to Industry 8-2009 | Importation of mined and chemical fertilisers |
| Notice to Industry 9-2009 | Transfer of Western Australian import document entry processing to the Entry Management National Coordination Centre (EMNCC) |
| Notice to Industry 10-2009 | Giant African Snail (GAS) Cargo National Transhipment Policy |
| Notice to Industry 11-2009 | Review of External Container Inspection Regime (ECIR) process |
| Notice to Industry 12-2009 | Revised Onshore Quarantine Fumigation Scheme |
| Notice to Industry 13-2009 | Broker Accreditation Schemes (BAS) - Non-Commodity for Containerised Cargo Clearance (CCC) Scheme Renewal of Compliance Agreements and Training |
| Notice to Industry 14-2009 | Highly Processed Prawn Verification Survey |
| Notice to Industry 15-2009 | Importation of Pilchard to Australia |
| Public Quarantine Alert 0600 | Review of External Container Inspection Regime (ECIR) process |
| Public Quarantine Alert 0599 | Notice to Industry—Giant African Snail (GAS) Cargo National Transhipment Policy |
| Public Quarantine Alert 0594 | Revision of AQIS Giant African Snail (GAS) Risk Management Strategies |
| Public Quarantine Alert 0583 | Performing machinery/equipment inspections at heights greater than 2 metres |
| Public Quarantine Alert 0592 | Notice to Industry—Safety of Irradiated Pet (Cat) Foods—Update to Notice 33/2008-09 |
| Public Quarantine Alert 0528 | AQIS Import Clearance Industry Notices 2009 published on the AQIS website |
| Public Quarantine Alert 0595 | Notice to Industry 5/2009—Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak in Taiwan (Chinese Taipei) |