Alerts

The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry has received an official report of an outbreak of FMD in Germany and is currently working to assess the biosecurity risk to Australia and what this might mean for import conditions. To help mitigate the risk to Australia, Germany has been removed from the applicable country lists that require FMD freedom.

The department has made an immediate change to remove Germany from the FMD free list, list of countries for natural casings derived from animals and relevant list of countries approved for animal fluids and tissues. This will result in commercial consignments of dairy, ovine/caprine casings and personal consignments of dairy and beef-based foods from Germany being held upon arrival into Australia. These changes are effective immediately.

The department is also undertaking further assessment of all traded goods from Germany and may introduce further restrictions over the coming days.

More information will be made available via BICON alerts, industry advice notices and other official communication channels as this work progresses. In the meantime, if you are a permit holder or have recently applied for a permit, the department will be in contact with you if any changes are required to your import conditions.

Goods in transit:
Any relevant goods in transit will be held and assessed on a case-by-case basis. Generally, product manufactured prior to the 14 November 2024 may be released from biosecurity control if suitable evidence can be supplied to biosecurity officers.

Product manufactured after 14 November 2024 may not be permitted entry into Australia and may be directed for re-export or destruction. Importers and brokers that are unsure of the status of their goods should contact imports@aff.gov.au for advice before arranging for the export of any product to Australia.

Who does this alert affect:
Importers and brokers who have imported or plan to import goods containing or derived from FMD-susceptible species (including cattle, sheep, pigs, deer, giraffe, elephants, camelids (alpacas, llamas and camel)) from Germany since 14 November 2024.

Further information:
Information about FMD can be found on the department’s website and an industry advice notice has also been released.

For all other questions, please contact the Animal and Biological Imports Branch on 1800 900 090 or email imports@aff.gov.au.