Alerts

Revised import conditions for fresh asparagus to take effect 1 March 2017

The department advises regional officers, importers and customs brokers that revised conditions for fresh asparagus for human consumption will take effect from 1 March 2017.

From 1 March 2017, all phytosanitary certificates that accompany asparagus consignments must include an additional declaration stating:

"The asparagus in this consignment has been inspected and found free from Thripidae."

In addition to the new phytosanitary requirement, there will be some other changes to the import conditions for asparagus:

• Due to the revised import conditions and phytosanitary certificate requirements, asparagus will no longer be included in the Automatic Entry Processing for Commodities (AEPCOMM) approved arrangement (AA).
  

• The BICON case content will be streamlined and undergo some minor reformatting; however this should not have any significant impact on imports.
  

• The current pathway splits for asparagus shipped via the United States will be removed and the conditions will be merged into a single case covering all countries.
  

All other import conditions in the Biosecurity Import Conditions (BICON) system will continue to apply, including the requirement for all shipments to be inspected on arrival in Australia. If live pests of biosecurity concern are found during the inspection, the department will provide you with options to manage the risk. Detections of thrips may still undergo remedial fumigation with methyl bromide, as per current practice.

The department will monitor imports in the coming seasons to ensure continued compliance with import conditions. Should high rates of thrips continue to be detected, the department will seek additional mitigation measures with exporting countries.

Importers are reminded of their responsibility to ensure that imported consignments meet Australia’s import requirements, including freedom from pests of biosecurity concern.

Background to the revised conditions

As part of a systematic review (http://www.agriculture.gov.au/import/online-services/bicon/review-import-conditions) of all Australia’s import conditions, which is being conducted over the next three years, the department recently reviewed asparagus imports from all countries. The review found that asparagus imports had a repeated high failure rate due to the presence of live pests, particularly thrips. Thrips are known to carry and transmit plant tospoviruses. Thrips, and the tosposviruses they transmit pose a risk to Australian agricultural industries as they can significantly reduce the yield, quality and marketability of fruit, vegetable, legume and ornamental crops.