Back in February, we advised of a new requirement that was pending for importers of timber products. Head to our website to read the full post here.
The Department of Agriculture and Water Resources (Quarantine) have now provided industry with an implementation date of the 1st September 2017.
Please see the following received directly from the Department of Agriculture:
New ‘Timber and timber products’ case
Within the Timber and timber products case, two import condition changes include:
- The time allowed between treatment and export for unfinished timber (previously timber and timber mouldings) from all countries will be aligned to 90 days.
- Reconstituted wood products and plywood, veneer sheet and articles have been included on the Highly Processed Wooden Article list (see below), which is a list of items considered to have an acceptably low biosecurity risk. This list also includes manufactured wooden articles smaller than 4mm in height and width. Items that are listed as Highly Processed Wooden Articles only require commercial documentation to clear Biosecurity.
Future changes to documentary requirements for wooden manufactured articles
From 1 September 2017, the department will
- increase the time allowed between treatment and export for Wooden Manufactured Articles from 21 days to 6 months.
- require that Wooden Manufactured Articles to be accompanied by an additional manufacturer’s or supplier’s declaration stating that the goods were stored so as to prevent risk of re-infestation by pests of concern in between treatment and date of export. You now need to be asking your suppliers to have this document (which is required to be consignment specific) accompanying any fumigation certificate. Without this document your fumigation certificate will be invalid. You must be acting on this change immediately.
Purpose of the new declaration documents for wooden manufactured articles
Manufacturer or supplier declaration documents will give assurance to the department that manufactured wooden articles are free from the type of pests that are known to infest dry timber-in-service. Infestation of dry timber is common, and Australia remains free from the majority of pest species that can cause significant damage to timber-in-service.
These declaration documents will cover the date between treatment and export, up to a maximum of 6 months.
What the new declaration means
The additional declaration for wooden manufactured articles certifies the manufacturer/supplier has used one or all of the following measures to manage the risk of reinfestation:
- A manufacturing/storage facility that is clean and free of pests, and/or
- A pest management system or process in place that maintains the manufacturing/storage facility to be free of pests, and/or
- A process for dealing with infestations in the manufacturing/storage facility, and/or
- Separate storage facility of treated timber or finished goods to any untreated timber, and/or
- A packaging process that ensures that goods are protected from reinfestation from pests. i.e. boxing/plastic wrapping/immediate sealing in container of products with treated wood after manufacture.
The new declaration
To demonstrate compliance with this requirement, a statement that the goods have been stored after treatment to minimise risk of reinfestation of biosecurity pests and disease will need to be presented on a manufacturer’s declaration or supplier’s declaration.
If you have any questions regarding these changes, please kindly contact Phil Gray, EES Customs Manager, directly.
