Alerts

The purpose of this notification is to advise stakeholders that further information on the upcoming measures for sea containers under Phase 6A of the khapra beetle urgent actions is now available.

Who will be affected by these changes?
Stakeholders in the import and shipping industries—including vessel masters, freight forwarders, treatment providers, Biosecurity Industry Participants, importers, customs brokers, principal shipping agents, and any other operators in the sea container supply and logistics chain.

What is changing?
As notified in previous BICON alerts, Phase 6A of the khapra beetle urgent actions will commence from 12 April 2021. Phase 6A will introduce mandatory offshore treatment requirements for target risk sea containers.

To assist in preparing stakeholders for these changes we have updated our sea container web page to include the following additional information:

• A draft Insecticide Treatment Methodology for public consultation.
• Additional treatment rate options for methyl bromide fumigation.
• A summary flowchart of the Phase 6A measures.
• Posters on sea container cleanliness and the risk of khapra beetle in sea containers.
• Infographics summarising the methyl bromide, heat and insecticide treatment requirements.

These updates can be found at: awe.gov.au/khapra-containers.

Draft Insecticide Treatment Methodology
To ensure the Insecticide Treatment Methodology is practical and fit for purpose, we are releasing a draft methodology for public consultation.

We recognise the commencement date of 12 April 2021 is fast approaching and the importance of providing you with the final version of the methodology so that it can be incorporated into your supply chain. As such, we are requesting that you review the draft methodology and provide any feedback to offshoretreatments@agriculture.gov.au by COB 31 March 2021.

You can also provide feedback on the methodology at our Insecticide Treatment Information Session on 31 March 2021. Register for this session at: https://khapra-containers-treatment-information-sessions.eventbrite.com.au.

All feedback received will be considered in the development of the final version of the methodology. We expect to publish the final version of the methodology on 7 April 2021.

Whilst we are releasing a draft of the Insecticide Treatment Methodology for a public consultation period, we will also consider feedback from stakeholders at any time, even after the methodology is finalised.

New BICON case
A new BICON case for Khapra beetle sea container measures is being developed. The content being developed will outline the import requirements for FCL/FCX containers where high-risk plant products are packed into the sea container in a khapra beetle target risk container.

Where can I get further information?
For further information see:

• Sea container measures to protect against khapra beetle (Trogoderma granarium)
• Urgent actions to protect against khapra beetle (Trogoderma granarium)
• Khapra beetle bulletin

For:

• questions and information related directly to offshore khapra beetle treatments, please email offshoretreatments@agriculture.gov.au.
• all other enquiries regarding these measures, please email imports@agriculture.gov.au (please title the subject line of the email with ‘Plant Tier 2 – khapra urgent actions’).