Part A: AQIS's Procedures for Assessing Applications Under the LRWRA Treatment Standard

1.1 Summary

The Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) has reviewed the existing Low Risk Wooden Article Scheme (LRWA), and has developed the Low Risk Wooden and Related Articles Scheme (LRWRA - or the Scheme) using a Low Risk Wooden and Related Articles (LRWRA) Treatment Standard (hereafter referred as the Standard) to cater for a range of manufactured wooden and related articles. This Standard provides guidelines against which products from a manufacturer can be assessed for LRWRA status for AQIS clearance purposes. The Standard also describes AQIS’s procedures for administration and management of the Scheme.

The aim of the Standard is to further minimise the risk of introduction of exotic pests to Australia while facilitating clearance of imported low risk wooden and related articles that are subject to the provisions of the Scheme. Importers of manufactured wooden and related articles (see 1.3 for products covered or not covered by the Standard) can apply to AQIS to assess their imported product under the Scheme.

An importer must submit an application for each individual product a manufacturer produces or group of products using the same manufacturing process.

Air dried, unprocessed and uncoated timber, solid wood packaging materials and products made from dried leaves, grasses or other plants without a timber component are excluded from the Scheme. Products protected only by a permanent timber preservative are also excluded from the Scheme.

AQIS will assess LRWRA applications in line with the Standard using a desk top assessment process. The assessment may consider quality control audit reports of the manufacturing process from an independent auditor. Compliance to the Scheme will be monitored by a five per cent random physical audit of imported consignments.

The Standard has been developed in consultation with industry stakeholders to provide importers of wooden and related articles a guideline to processes that confer low risk status during manufacturing and handling of their products. This will allow importers and their suppliers/manufacturers to streamline their production practices to be able to apply to AQIS for approval under the Scheme.

Submission of a LRWRA status application by an importer does not guarantee AQIS approval of low risk status. AQIS will grant LRWRA accreditation to a product if the assessment of treatment during manufacturing, and the packaging and storage is deemed to mitigate quarantine risks to an acceptably low level. AQIS has stringent requirements for commodities to be approved under the LRWRA Scheme. AQIS will review the performance of the Scheme/Standard two years after the implementation of the modified Scheme. AQIS reserves the right to modify or cease the Scheme at any time.

The LRWRA Scheme is in addition to the existing AQIS Automatic Entry Processing (AEP) procedure for clearance of manufactured wooden articles. However, the Scheme has the advantage of quarantine clearance at the Integrated Cargo System level. Importers of manufactured wooden articles may choose to use either the AEP or to apply for low risk status under the Scheme for facilitated clearance of their manufactured wooden articles.

1.2 The STANDARD

The Standard defines the processes that AQIS considers appropriate to mitigate quarantine concerns during manufacturing and storage of manufactured wooden and related articles. AQIS will assess products from specific manufacturers of manufactured wooden articles using the treatment guidelines outlined in the Standard. This involves onshore (ie in Australia) desk top assessment of manufacturing processes. The Standard is described in Part B of this document. The Standard is also available on the AQIS Website (www.AQIS.gov.au).

1.3 Products covered by the LRWRA Standard

PRODUCTS IN THESE ICON CASES MAY BE CONSIDERED FOR LOW RISK STATUS¹: 1) MANUFACTURED WOODEN ARTICLES; 2) BAMBOO ARTICLES; 3) CANE AND RATTAN ARTICLES and 4) WILLOW AND WICKER ARTICLES

Manufactured Wooden Articles

• This are highly processed solid wooden articles (e.g. furniture, doors, musical instruments, clocks) including timber-related products such as plywood, veneer, products made from mostly reconstituted or sliced wood. It also includes processed bamboo, or rattan, willow (woven materials) products or products made from a combination of wood or above materials that have been commercially manufactured, coated and packed commercially.

Bamboo Articles

• Bamboo blinds, bamboo chairs, bamboo chimes, bamboo chopsticks, bamboo furniture, bamboo kitchen ware, bamboo lacquer ware, bamboo mats, bamboo sticks, bamboo tables, bamboo utensils, bamboo wares, bamboo steamers.

Cane and rattan articles

• Calamus spp., cane and rattan articles, cane articles, cane chairs, cane furniture, cane kitchenwares, cane mats, cane products, cane tables, cane utensils, cane wares, Daemonorops spp., Korthalsia spp., Plectocomia spp., rattan articles, rattan chairs, rattan furniture, rattan kitchenwares, rattan mats, rattan products, rattan tables, rattan utensils, rattan wares.

Willow and wicker articles - Dried

TIMBER AND RELATED PRODUCTS THAT ARE NOT COVERED BY THE STANDARD:

• 'Artefacts, natural forest produce' – artefacts containing wooden components, which may include carvings, spears, statues, wooden masks, wooden blowpipes, bows, weapon handles, arrows and shields. Artefacts may also present other quarantine risks independent of the timber concerns such as rawhide, bone and seed.
  
  
• ‘Chestnut bark hoops’ - Chestnut bark hoops which are hoops made from Chestnut wood (Castanea spp.) with bark adhering to the wood. They are used in the wine industry.
  
  
• 'Logs' – timber that exceeds 200 mm in each dimension (length, width, depth and all diagonals) and is to be imported for further processing.
  
  
• 'Plywood and veneer sheet' – plywood and veneer sheet only. Plywood: wood composed of solid or thin sheets of wood glued together. The grains of adjacent sheets are normally orientated at right angles to each other. Veneers: wood composed solely of sheets sliced or peeled on a veneer machine and often used for plywood or for surfacing furniture. This excludes products or articles (e.g. furniture, doors) made from plywood and veneer components and plywood used for packaging or dunnage.
  
  
• 'Sawdust products, Charcoal and Wood chips’ – sawdust products including (but not limited to): briquettes and pellets made from compressed wood; charcoal; coal; chunks/chips or bits of wood; sawdust; sawdust powder and wood shavings and any other timber by-products that are not used as packing material or for further processing.
  
  Timber – Myrtaceae
  
  
• 'Timber and timber mouldings' – sawn timber (rough and dressed), timber machined into a desired shape but not a final product, roundwood that has been subject to a commercial debarking process and has a dimension less than 200 mm.
  
  
• 'Timber oversize' – timber or timber products that exceed 200 mm in each dimension (length, width, depth and all diagonals) and are not imported for further processing.
  
  
• 'Timber packaging and dunnage' – any kind of timber used as packaging, including cases, crates, pallets, bearers, dunnages and blocks and or wood packaging materials covered by ISPM 15 (International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures: Guidelines for Regulating Wood Packaging Material in International Trade).
  
  
• 'Wine barrels' – wooden wine barrels/oak barrels, wood chips used for wine making, stave inserts, oak cubes, oak balls, and wine woods.

1.4 Procedures for approval of manufactured wooden and related articles under the LRWRA Scheme

Importers of manufactured wooden and related articles must apply to AQIS for the specific products from specific overseas manufacturers to be approved/accepted under the Scheme. The information necessary for the application can be downloaded in Appendix 1. The application must be sent to the Timber National Coordination Centre. It can be sent either to the postal address (Timber NCC – AQIS, PO Box 1006, Tullamarine VIC 3043), or it can be lodged electronically by emailing Timber Imports. All applications will be assessed using the requirements set out in the Treatment Standard in Part B of this document.

1.5 Assessment process

AQIS will carry out a preliminary assessment on receipt of a LRWRA application and the initial lodgement fee. During the assessment process, AQIS may ask for additional information, or where feasible/applicable, may seek information from the respective National Plant Protection Organisation (NPPO) or quality control agencies. To be eligible for LRWRA status, a product must receive either one or two quarantine treatments in the Treatment Standard as a minimum during manufacturing depending on the geographical locality and/or the presence of quality control systems. The second quarantine treatment may be required for items requiring a longer time to produce or pack (store and or be containerised) the finished product after receiving an initial quarantine treatment (e.g. heat or kiln drying).

Where an application is approved, the commodity in the application will be assigned a unique AQIS identification number (AIN). The AIN may have 8–10 alpha numeric values that will be used to identify the manufacturer, country of origin and product included in the accreditation. The list of accredited applicants, their products and AINs will only be used by AQIS officers (commercial-in-confidence).

Key steps after an application is submitted to AQIS are:

1. AQIS will acknowledge receipt of the LRWRA accreditation application;
   
   
2. AQIS will prepare an initial assessment of the application on the basis of the information provided;
   
   
3. AQIS will contact the applicant if further information on particular aspects of the treatments, manufacturing or storage conditions is required;
   
   
4. For applicants that are accredited under a recognised quality control system such as an International Organization for Standardization (ISO) compliant system, AQIS may request previous audit reports for review to ensure conditions conferring low risk status are maintained;
   
   
5. If AQIS decides to grant low risk status, AQIS will issue the applicant with a unique alpha numeric AQIS Identification Number (AIN) identifying the manufacturer, the country of origin and each of the products approved as a LRWRA;
   
   
6. The accreditation will remain valid for a period of two years from the date of signing the acceptance declaration;
   
   
7. At the conclusion of the approval period, the applicant can reapply for the renewal of the existing agreement provided the process and products remain the same;
   
   
8. If an applicant is unsuccessful, AQIS will provide a report to the unsuccessful applicant/manufacturer detailing the reasons for failure; and
   
   
9. AQIS will maintain a list on its internal network of accredited manufacturers for use by AQIS only.

1.6 Confirmation of the accreditation and reassessment process

AQIS will notify applicants of the outcome of their applications. If approved/accepted, the approval will remain valid for two years subject to satisfactory compliance with the Scheme. If Importers need to modify the production processes of the product they need to reapply to AQIS as per the procedure in Appendix 1.

1.7 Compliance to the Scheme

Five per cent of consignments cleared under the LRWRA Scheme will be subject to random physical inspections by AQIS for auditing and verification of compliance with the Scheme. Where the commodity is found to be non-compliant with the Scheme a supplier profile will be created at the ICS level. This means the next five consignments from the identified supplier will be directed for full unpack at a Class 1 Quarantine Approved Premise (QAP). The supplier profiles will remain in place if further non-compliance is detected. Profiling will only be cancelled after five consecutive consignments have been unpacked and inspected and found to be compliant with the Scheme. Low risk status will then be reinstated for the term of the approval. All LRWRA profile referrals and supplier profile inspections will continue to be charged a fee for service. AQIS charges for entry lodgement, assessment of documentation, and inspection will apply as normal. This cost is separate to any fees charged by QAPs or any transport and handling fees. All fees are the importer’s responsibility.

^{1 * Inclusion of a product in these ICON cases does not necessarily mean it will receive low risk status.}

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