Alerts

Import conditions previously restricted imports to only highly processed soybean and/or corn products not for human consumption. The BICON case included import questions for package weight and the import conditions mandated onshore inspection to confirm goods are free of biosecurity risk and that plant material is not capable of propagation.

Following internal risk assessment and review, the following changes will take effect Wednesday 27 November 2024:

• The case title will be renamed to ’Highly processed plant products not for human consumption’ to broaden the import conditions to include highly processed plant products made from peas (Pisum spp.), beans (Phaseolus spp.) and cassava (Manihot spp.).
• The import question relating to package weight (equal to or less than 5 kg) will be removed with a question added on ‘end-use’. This will redirect BICON users to alternative cases where the end-use is other than listed e.g. for fertiliser, petfood or stockfeed end uses.
• New import conditions will be added to enable release without inspection for certain highly processed plant products. These are products where offshore manufacturing processes involve heating and extrusion, pressing or pelletising to form a final product (e.g. cat litter). The conditions will require a declaration attesting to this level of processing. It will be an assessable requirement and goods that meet the import conditions will not require inspection on arrival.

Processed plant products that have not been manufactured using heat and extrusion, pressing or pellstised will require inspection onshore as per current import conditions.

To support these change and for future pathway monitoring purposes, a new Community Protection question will be introduced at lodgement to ask “Have the goods been processed by heating and extrusion, pressing or pelletising?”.

Who does this notice affect:
Importers and brokers of highly processed plant products not for human consumption and Pathway Operations Cargo - Assessments

Background:
Feedback received by Plant Import Operations from internal and external stakeholders indicated a need to review the BICON case and broaden the risk controls to those additional species of plant material. Additionally, we undertook a risk assessment to remove the mandatory inspection requirement for certain highly processed plant products. Assessment determined that biosecurity risk is mitigated through manufacturing processes that involved heating and extrusion, pressing or pelletising to form a final product, and goods could be released following assessment of a declaration attesting to this level of processing.

The new import conditions for release without inspection will reduce the volume of goods requiring onshore inspections, resulting in cost and administrative savings for the department and Industry.

Further Information:
Further information on the Community Protection question is provided at industry advice notice ‘Streamlining import conditions for highly processed plant products not for human consumption’ here.

Any questions please email Plant Import Operations Branch at imports@aff.gov.au.