Alerts

This alert is to notify importers and customs brokers of a change to the Approved Arrangement site number for the Plant Health Diagnostic Services laboratory at the Elizabeth Macarthur Agricultural Institute (EMAI), New South Wales, which delivers pathogen testing of imported seed lots.

Who does this alert affect:
Stakeholders who import seed requiring pathogen testing at the NSW Plant Health Diagnostic Services laboratory.

Background for the change:
The department has revised the approval number for the Approved Arrangement for Plant Health Diagnostic Services laboratory at the EMAI, NSW.

Approved Arrangement site ‘N2338 Department of Industry Skills and Regional Development’ has been revoked and replaced by ‘N3390 Department of Regional NSW’, effective 15 June 2022.

The physical location of the Approved Arrangement site remains the same.

What do industry need to know?
Effectively immediately, all department-issued directions for seed pathogen testing in NSW will now be issued to ‘N3390 Department of Regional NSW’.

The department has updated relevant BICON cases to reflect the details of the new AA site, including the list of NSW and VIC state government seed pathogen testing laboratories referenced within the relevant import conditions.

The seed health test request form for completion by brokers will shortly be updated to reflect the updated Approved Arrangement details.

Import permits:
The department will contact all affect import permit holders and vary all impacted import permits in due course.

As these permit variations will be initiated by the department, the variation will be performed at no cost to permit holders.

Further information:
Please contact Plant Import Operations on 1800 900 090 (please title the subject line of the email ‘Plant T2’) or email imports@agriculture.gov.au.