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Brown Marmorated Stink Bug Quarantine Alert

There are a number of plant and animal pests which are exotic to Australia which pose a high biosecurity risk to Austalia’s agricultural industries and the environment more generally.

The bugcan arrive in Australia on cargo and containers shipped between September and April. This coincides with autumn and winter in the Northern Hemisphere.

The Department of Agriculture and Waters Resources (DAWR) has put in place measures to address the risk including mandatory off shore fumigation treatments for certain classes of shipments originating from high risk countries.

These countries are:

United States of America
Italy
Germany
France
Russia
Greece
Hungary
Romania
Georgia
Japan

In general AIMA & DAWR considers the risk associated with containerised personal effects imports to be relatively low, nevertheless AIMA members’ depots are on high alert and any potential sightings either inside or outside of the container will result in a mandatory methyl bromide fumigation. Fumigation costs are the responsibility of the shipper (import client).

Frequently Asked Questions

Are all personal effects shipments into Australia subject to mandatory quarantine inspection?

Yes – Australia is in the fortunate situation of being one of the few countries relatively free of common pests and diseases found in other countries. For this reason, the Australian Government has mandated that all unaccompanied shipments of used personal effects, motor vehicles and vessels be screened and physically inspected at approved and licenced unpacking depots by Department of Agriculture and Water Resources inspection officers.

Why is there a fee for the mandatory quarantine inspection?

The Department of Agriculture and Water Resources will only permit the unpacking of imported personal effects to occur within the confines of specially licenced and approved warehouses with adequate contamination containment measures, trained and accredited warehouse staff and the required electronic interface reporting systems. The fees for quarantine inspection, clearance and attendance charged by AIMA members cover the cost of annual depot licencing, use of bonded warehouse space, attendance and inspection fees for DAWR inspection officers and required interface software licencing.

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