The Department of Agriculture and Water Resources has issued Notice 15-2018, advising that as from the 1st March 2018, they will be implementing a mandatory requirement that all consignments of cut flowers and foliage imported into Australia are free of live quarantine pests – and that this must be endorsed on a phytosanitary certificate from the National Plant Protection Organisation (NPPO) of the exporting country. Cut flowers and foliage will need to enter Australia in insect proof cartons, and any cut flowers and foliage that are ‘propagatable’ will still need to be dipped in herbicide to prevent growth.
One of the following measures must be applied prior to export of cut flowers and foliage to ensure freedom of live quarantine pests:
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Produced and prepared for export under a National Plant Protection Organisation (NPPO) approved systems approach;
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Pre-export fumigation with methyl bromide;
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Alternative pre-export disinfestation treatments
Details of pre-shipment treatment(s) must be provided on a phytosanitary certificate. Consignments produced under a systems approach must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate with the required additional declaration. Additionally, the botanical name (genus and species) must be included on the phytosanitary certificate.
Pest freedom will be able to be achieved through either offshore treatment or through the use of a systems approach (a combination of pest control measures in production, transport and packing areas).
The plant species that can be imported into Australia as cut flowers and foliage have not changed.
