General Requirements:
Commercial
- An Import Permit is not required.
- The botanical name must be providedon one of the following documents:
- a) Bill of Lading;
- b) Airway bill;
- c) Commercial invoice;
- d) Declaration from the exporter or manufacturer;
- e) Treatment certificate; or
- f) Phytosanitary certificate.
- Each consignment must be free of live insects, bark and other quarantine risk material prior to arrival in Australia.
- Any timber packaging and dunnage must comply with DAFF Biosecurity’s non-commodity policy. (compliant with ISPM 15)
- Not included (ignore)
- All consignments that have been treated offshore and are accompanied by an acceptable treatment certificate from a DAFF Biosecurity approved treatment provider or an official Phytosanitary certificate may be released on the presentation of documents. Acceptable treatments are:
- a) Methyl bromide (T9047, T9075 or T9913) (refer to C5154);
- b) Sulphuryl fluoride (T9090);
- c) Heat treatment (T9968); see below
- d) Kiln Dried (T9912); see below
- e) Ethylene oxide (T9020) (refer to C9741); or
- f) Permanent timber preservative treatment (T9987).
Treatments a)-b) must be completed within 21 days of shipment or containerisation.
Treatment c) – d) must be completed within 90 days of shipment or containerisation.
- Consignments that are not accompanied by an acceptable treatment certificate or Phytosanitary certificate (stating details of the treatment) are subject to one of the following, at the importer’s expense:
- a) a full unpack and inspection at a Quarantine approved premises; or
- b) an inspection to verify that the product is packaged appropriately for treatment, prior to treatment with one of the following at the importer’s expense:
- i) methyl bromide (T9047, T9075 or T9913) (refer to C5154);
- ii) heat treatment (T9912 or T9968);
- iii) ethylene oxide (T9020);
- iv) gamma irradiation (T9924); or
- v) export or destruction.
- If contaminants are found on inspection, then the consignment will be held and the contaminants removed or treated by a DAFF Biosecurity approved method (if possible), or the consignment will be exported or destroyed at the importer’s expense.
Entry Management EM0185
AQIS information requirements to support assessment of non-commodity concerns associated with imported cargo
All documentation presented to AQIS to assist in determining the level of quarantine risk posed by transportation pathways and packaging must meet the requirements of the Non-Commodity Information Requirements Policy. These requirements address:
1.Container cleanliness;
2.Packaging concerns (e.g. presence of timber or prohibited packaging material); and
3.Destination concerns (e.g. destined for a rural unpack location).
Timber Products – General Guidelines:
Logs – All species* (> 200 mm in diameter and to be further processed in Australia)
- Import permit required (will outline detailed import requirements)
- Updated: March 14, 2012
Logs – All species (<200 mm in diameter or >200 mm in diameter and not for further processing in Australia)
- No import permit required
- No phytosanitary certificate required
- Subject to inspection at port of entry
- If quarantine risk material is found on the shipment treatment will be required at port of entry or shipment will be exported or destroyed
- Updated March 14, 2012
Lumber – Coniferous
- No import permit required
- The botanical name must be provided on one of the following documents:
- Bill of Lading
- Airway bill
- Commercial invoice
- Declaration from the exporter or manufacturer
- Treatment certificate or
- Phytosanitary certificate
- Free of live insects, bark and other quarantine risk material prior to arrival in Australia
- Packaging used with the consignment must be clean and new
- Containers, timber packing, pallets or dunnage associated with the consignment will be subject to inspection and treatment on arrival, unless certified as having been treated by an AQIS approved method (Refer to the AQIS publication ‘Cargo Containers: Quarantine aspects and procedures’)
- Consignments that have been treated offshore and are accompanied by an acceptable treatment or Phytosanitary certificate may be released on the presentation of documents. Acceptable treatments are
- a) Methyl bromide (T9047, T9075 or T9913) (refer to C5154) (contact CFIA; CFIA will not certified except under exceptional circumstances)
- b) Sulphuryl fluoride (T9090)
- c) Kiln drying or Heat treatment (T9912 or T9968)
- d) Ethylene oxide (T9020) (refer to C9741) or
- e) Permanent timber preservative treatment (T9987)
Treatments a) and b) must be completed within 21 days of shipment or containerisation.
Treatments c) must be completed within 90 days of containerisation or shipment.
- Consignments that are not accompanied by an acceptable treatment certificate or Phytosanitary certificate (stating details of the treatment) are subject to one of the following, at the importer’s expense
- a) a full unpack and inspection at a Quarantine approved premises; or
- b) an inspection to verify that the product is packaged appropriately for treatment, prior to treatment with one of the following at the importer’s expense:
- a) methyl bromide (T9047, T9075 or T9913) (refer to C5154);
- b) heat treatment (T9912 or T9968);
- c) ethylene oxide (T9020); or
- d) gamma irradiation (T9924).
- e) export or destruction.
- If contaminants (including soil and giant African snails) are found on inspection, then the consignment will be held and the contaminants removed or treated by an AQIS approved method (if possible), or the consignment will be exported or destroyed at the importer’s expense.
Treatments:
1.Kiln drying for quarantine purposes – Treatment T9912
AQIS has a number of general requirements for kiln drying treatments that are applied for quarantine purposes. These are:
- Dry bulb temperature in the chamber is maintained at or above 74°C (165°F) and the wet bulb depression (the maximum decrease allowed between the dry and wet bulb temperatures) is less than 2°C (3.6°F),
- Treatment time does not commence until the temperature and humidity in the chamber have stabilised and the core temperature of the timber has reached at least 74°C (165°F), and
- The duration of the treatment will depend on the thickness of the timber (refer to Table 1 below). ‘Thickness’ is defined here as the distance between spacers in the stack, regardless of the thickness of individual boards.
Table 1: Kiln drying treatment durations for timber of different thicknesses
Thickness of Timber (mm) | Duration of Treatment (Hours) |
0 – 25 | 4 |
26 – 50 | 6 |
51 – 75 | 8 |
76 – 100 | 10 |
101 – 150 | 14 |
151 – 200 | 18 |
Thickness unknown | Refer to a) below |
Thickness greater than 200mm | Refer to b) below |
a) If the thickness of the timber is not stated on the treatment certificate or is unknown, a verification inspection at an appropriate Quarantine Approved Premises is required to ensure that the timber has at least one dimension less than or equal to 200mm [refer to b) below], and to verify that the treatment has been effective.
b) Where all the dimensions of the timber are greater than 200mm mandatory treatment is required. The treatment duration must exceed 18 hours once a core temperature of 74°C has been achieved.
This treatment must be validated by a treatment certificate or a Phytosanitary certificate. AQIS accepts treatment certificates from all commercial treatment providers except where there has been a history of non-compliance and/or treatment failure, or the ICON case for the commodity and/or specific exporting country specifies additional requirements in relation to treatment providers.
Treatment certificates and Phytosanitary certificates must include the duration of treatment, the treatment temperature and the maximum thickness of timber being treated.
If the treatment certificate is issued by a treatment provider accredited under an AQIS recognised offshore government program or its equivalent, the certificate must also include the name of the program under which the treatment provider is accredited and the facility registration number or treatment provider number issued under that program.
Heat Treatment – Treatment T9968
Minimum core temperature of 56ºC for a minimum duration of 30 minutes at the core of the product.
Note: This treatment is only accepted when:
- performed by treatment providers accredited under an AQIS recognised government accreditation program, or
- endorsed by an Official Government Phytosanitary Certificate.
Heat treatment providers from whom AQIS will accept treatment certificates without an official government phytosanitary certificate endorsement for this treatment are:
Canada
Treatment providers accredited under:
- The Canadian Heat Treated Wood Products Certification Program (CHTWPCP) as listed at Canadian Heat Treated Wood Certification Program OR
- The Canadian Wood Packaging Certification Program (CWPCP) as listed at Canadian Wood Packaging Certificate Program OR
- The Canadian Lumber Export Certification Program as listed at Canadian Lumber Export Certification Program
Treatment must be completed within 90 days of containerisation or shipment.
Green Coniferous Lumber:
- No import permit required
- No phytosanitary certificate required
- No treatment certificate required
- Free of bark, pests and disease
- When green lumber is shipped and pests are found upon inspection, the consignment will be held and the pests removed or treated by an AQIS-approved method or the consignment will be re-exported or destroyed.
Pest Interception Actions by AQIS:
One of the following will be conducted by AQIS at the port of entry at the owner’s expense:
1. Complete unpack and inspection of the shipment at a quarantine approved facility (expensive) or,
2. Verification inspection before treatment, treatment options are fumigation with Methyl bromide, heat treatment, kiln-drying, ethylene oxide, or gamma irradiation. Treatment is conducted by AQIS or,
3. Re-export or destruction.
Refer to AQIS web-site for further details:
http://www.aqis.gov.au/icon32/asp/ex_casecontent.asp?intNodeId=8988679&intCommodityId=27988&Types=none&WhichQuery=Go+to+full+text&intSearch=1&LogSessionID=0
Updated: April 4, 2012
Lumber – Hardwood)
Requirements same as for Coniferous
Manufactured Wood Products
- No import permit required
- Free of live insects, bark and other quarantine risk material prior to arrival
- Inspection upon arrival
- Manufactured wood products treated offshore and accompanied by an acceptable treatment or Phytosanitary certificate may be released on the presentation of documents. Acceptable treatments include:
- a) Methyl bromide (T9047, T9075 or T9913) (refer to C5154) (contact CFIA; CFIA will not certified except under exceptional circumstances)
- b) Sulphuryl fluoride (T9090)
- c) Heat treatment (T9912 or T9968)
- d) Ethylene oxide (T9020) (refer to C9741) or
- e) Permanent timber preservative treatment (T9987)
Treatments a) and b) must be completed within 21 days of shipment or containerization.
Treatment c) must be completed within 90 days of containerisation or shipment).
- Consignments that are not accompanied by an acceptable treatment certificate or Phytosanitary certificate (stating details of the treatment) are subject to one of the following, at the importer’s expense
- a) a full unpack and inspection at a Quarantine approved premises; or
- b) an inspection to verify that the product is packaged appropriately for treatment, prior to treatment with one of the following at the importer’s expense:
- a) methyl bromide (T9047, T9075 or T9913) (refer to C5154);
- b) heat treatment (T9912 or T9968);
- c) Ethylene Oxide (T9020); or
- d) gamma irradiation (T9924).
- e) export or destruction.
Plywood and thin wood (<5 mm thick) (new and unused)
- No import permit required
- Free of live insects, bark and other quarantine risk material prior to arrival
- Must be new and exported within 90 days of manufacture. Documents supporting the date of manufacture must be presented
- If manufacture outside 90 days, must be accompanied by a valid treatment certificate. Acceptable treatments are:
- a) Methyl bromide (T9047) (refer to C5154) (contact CFIA; CFIA will not certified except under exceptional circumstances)
- b) Sulphuryl fluoride (T9090)
- c) Heat treatment (T9912 or T9968)
- d) Ethylene oxide (T9020) (refer to C9741) or
- e) Permanent timber preservative treatment (T9987)
(Treatments a, b and d) must be completed within 21 days of shipment or containerisation. Treatment c) must be completed within 90 days of containerisation or shipment).
- Consignments not accompanied by acceptable documentation are subject to an inspection to verify the product is new. If the product is used it must be exported or destroyed. Following inspection such consignments will be treated, exported or destroyed. The treatment options are:
- a) methyl bromide (T9047);
- b) kiln heat treatment (T9912)
- c) ethylene oxide (T9020);
- d) heat treatment (T9968) or;
- e) gamma irradiation (T9924).
- If live insects are found during the inspection, they will be identified by an AQIS entomologist and the entire line/mark/consignment will be treated with methyl bromide fumigation (T9047)
If bark is found, the consignment must be treated as follows:- a) heat treatment (T9569)
- b) gamma irradiation (T9924)
- c) ethylene oxide (T9020)
- If other contaminants such as soil then the consignment will be held and the contaminants removed or treated by an AQIS approved method (if possible), or the consignment must be re-exported or destroyed at the importer’s expense.
Wood Chips
- Import permit is required and will outline conditions for entry
- Include sawdust briquettes and pellets made from compressed wood; chunks/chips or bits of wood; sawdust; sawdust powder and wood shavings and any other timber by-products including those that are used as packing material or for further processing.
- Each consignment must be free of plant material, animal residues, seeds, soil and live insects. All sawdust and associated products (including but not limited to: briquettes made from compressed wood; charcoal; chunks/chips or bits of wood; sawdust; sawdust powder and wood shavings) are subject to quarantine inspection upon arrival.
- If the consignment is accompanied by an acceptable manufacturer’s declaration, goods may be released. The consignment may be subject to random verification inspection to verify the contents of the goods and to ensure that it is free of live insects, seeds, soil, animal material and other quarantine concerns. Manufacturer’s declarations must state that the commodity has been treated to the specifications detailed in the permit.
- Where consignments are not accompanied by certification or certification is invalid, the consignment is subject to mandatory treatment or destruction.
- If live insects or contamination are detected on inspection of the consignment, the consignment is to be, at the importer’s expense:
- treated by an approved AQIS method; or
- destroyed; or
- exported;
- A knockdown spray may be required to control adult insects if fumigation or processing cannot be carried out immediately. Commercial insecticide brands and formulations may change. Registered knockdown or contact insecticide sprays are to be used in accordance to label requirements in consultation with a quarantine entomologist
- Prior to the application of any one of these treatments for insects or other contaminants, the consignment will require a verification inspection in order to establish that the goods are in a suitable form for the nominated treatment. Example of what to consider when verifying suitability for a specific treatment would be: will the treatment penetrate to the depth of the consignment. For example, depth of penetration into bulk sawdust, etc. These goods would not be suitable for fumigation with methyl bromide.
- Updated: 2012-03-15
Refer to AQIS web-site for further information: