Notifications for Australia (406 notifications)

This Proposal seeks to amend the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code to align the following maximum residue limits (MRLs) for various agricultural and veterinary chemicals so that they are consistent with other national regulations relating to the safe and effective use of agricultural and veterinary chemicals: - Boscalid, Flonicamid, Fluopyram, Imazamox, Propiconazole, Pyrimethanil, Metazachlor in specified plant commodities; - Metazachlor in specified animal commodities.

In response to requests regarding the complexity of the issues covered in the Australian Government's Draft review entitled "Fresh (chilled or frozen) beef and beef products from Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United States and Vanuatu - Draft review", which was notified to the WTO through notification G/SPS/N/AUS/410 on 15 December 2016, an extension period is provided until 15 March 2017.

As set out in the determination http://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2017L00034, the Director of Biosecurity has suspended imports of uncooked prawns from all countries other than New Caledonia due to unacceptable biosecurity risk for a period of six months. The unacceptable biosecurity risk relates to the risk of uncooked prawn product carrying white spot syndrome virus (WSSV).

The Department of Agriculture and Water Resources (the department) is seeking submissions on a range of policy proposals under the Imported Food Control Regulations 1993 (the Regulations). These proposals are being considered as part of the department's review of the Regulations which are required to be remade prior to their expiry on 1 October 2018. Specific detail on the remaking of these regulations is available here: http://www.agriculture.gov.au/import/goods/food/imported-food-control-regulations. It is expected that these changes would take effect after December 2017 and before October 2018.

The draft group pest risk analysis considers the biosecurity risk posed by all members of the insect order Thysanoptera (commonly referred to as thrips) and all members of the virus genus Tospovirus that are (or are likely) to be associated with fresh fruit, vegetables, cut flowers or foliage imported into Australia as commercial consignments from any country. Phytosanitary measures are identified in the draft report for use in specific cases where measures are required. The draft report includes eight chapters and seven appendixes as follows: Summary 1. Introduction 2 Pest categorisation of thrips (part A) 3 Pest categorisation of thrips (part B) 4 Pest categorisation of tospoviruses 5 Pest risk assessment of thrips 6 Pest risk assessment of tospoviruses 7 Key findings 8 Pest risk management measures Appendixes A-H

A draft report on a risk assessment of the animal and human health risks associated with imported fresh (chilled or frozen) beef and beef products from Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United States of America and Vanuatu.

This draft review report evaluates the biosecurity risks associated with the importation of frozen bovine in-vitro produced embryos from Canada and the United States derived from live donors. http://www.agriculture.gov.au/biosecurity/risk-analysis/memos/ba2016-33 The originally announced final date for comments has been extended to 28 January 2017.

This Proposal seeks to amend the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code to align the following maximum residue limits (MRLs) for various agricultural and veterinary chemicals so that they are consistent with other national regulations relating to the safe and effective use of agricultural and veterinary chemicals: - Acetamiprid, Chlorantraniliprole, Dithianon, Novaluron, Spirotetramat, Trifloxystrobin in specified plant commodities; and - Novaluron, in specified animal commodities.

This draft review report evaluates the biosecurity risks associated with the importation of frozen bovine in vitro produced embryos from Canada and the United States derived from live donors.

The Australian Government Department of Agriculture and Water Resources has completed this risk analysis in response to the market access request for table grapes from Sonora, Mexico, into Australia. The final report recommends a combination of risk management measures and a system of operational procedures that will reduce the risk associated with the importation of table grapes from Sonora, Mexico, to achieve the appropriate level of protection for Australia. The final report recommends that the importation of table grapes into Australia from Sonora, Mexico, meets Australia's biosecurity requirements subject to a range of risk management measures, including measures for fruit flies (two species), spotted wing drosophila, ladybird, sharpshooters (three species), Kanzawa spider mite, leaf rolling moth, mealybugs (five species), thrips (three species), grapevine phylloxera and black rot. In addition, the final report identifies two sanitary pests requiring risk management measures (black widow spider and yellow sac spider). The draft report for this risk analysis was published on the Australian Government Department of Agriculture and Water Resources website on 13 January 2016 for a 30 day stakeholder consultation period and was published as an SPS notification with reference number G/SPS/N/AUS/379. The completed final report is available in English on the Australian Government Department of Agriculture and Water Resources website at http://www.agriculture.gov.au/biosecurity/risk-analysis/memos.

This Proposal seeks to amend the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code to align the following maximum residue limits (MRLs) for various agricultural and veterinary chemicals so that they are consistent with other national regulations relating to the safe and effective use of agricultural and veterinary chemicals: Abamectin, boscalid, cypermethrin, cyprodinil, dithiocarbamates and fludioxonil in specified plant commodities and cyprodinil in specified animal commodities.

This Application seeks to amend the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code (Code) to align maximum residue limits for the veterinary chemical avilamycin in specific pig commodities, with certain limits established by Codex relating to the safe and effective use of agricultural and veterinary chemicals. The document includes a summary of the scientific risk assessment and risk assessment methodology and proposed draft variation to the Code.

This Proposal seeks to amend the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code to align certain maximum residue limits (MRLs) for various agricultural and veterinary chemicals so that they are consistent with other national regulations relating to the safe and effective use of agricultural and veterinary chemicals.

Australia is preparing science-based risk statements on the risks associated with certain imported foods. As each risk statement is prepared, they are published on the Food Standards Australia New Zealand website (http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/consumer/importedfoods/Pages/FSANZ-advice-on-imported-food.aspx). In response to the risk statement on fish and fish products for histamine, Australia is proposing changes to the inspection and analysis of specified fish and fish products. Australia proposes these changes to ensure that these fish and fish products do not contain more than 200 mg/kg of histamine in the fish or fish products. Under the proposed changes: - fish and fish products that are, or contain more than 300 g/kg of, fish of the families Scombridae, Coryphaenidae, Pomatomidae, Carangidae, Clupeidae, Engraulidae or Scomberesocidae would be classified as risk food under the Imported Food Control Act 1992; and - the specified fish and fish products would be subject to an initial 100 per cent rate of inspection and analysis for histamine. If consignments are found to comply with the 200 mg/kg level in the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code then this rate of inspection and analysis would reduce to 25 per cent of consignments from each producer and then ultimately to 5 per cent of consignments from each producer. Specific detail on the kinds of fish and the initial increase in the rate of inspection and analysis is available at http://www.agriculture.gov.au/import/goods/food/notices/ifn-17-16. It is expected that these changes would take effect in December 2016.

Australia is preparing science-based risk statements on the risks associated with certain imported foods. As each risk statement is prepared, they are published on the Food Standards Australia New Zealand website (http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/consumer/importedfoods/Pages/FSANZ-advice-on-imported-food.aspx). In response to the risk statement on uncooked ready-to-eat meat, Australia is proposing changes to the inspection and analysis of uncooked ready-to-eat meat. Australia proposes these changes to protect public health and safety and ensure that these ready-to-eat meat products are produced with hygienic controls equivalent to those in Standard 4.2.3 - Production and Processing Standard for Meat of the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code. Under the proposed changes a recognised government certificate would be required for uncooked ready-to-eat meat and these foods could not be imported into Australia without this certificate. The form and content of the certificate would be agreed between Australia and the exporting country following an assessment of whether the uncooked ready-to-eat meat products in the exporting country are produced with hygienic controls equivalent to those in Standard 4.2.3 of the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code. Specific detail on the proposed changes is available at http://www.agriculture.gov.au/import/goods/food/notices/ifn-18-16. It is expected that the changes would take effect in December 2016.

This Proposal seeks to amend the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code to align certain maximum residue limits (MRLs) for various agricultural and veterinary chemicals so that they are consistent with other national regulations relating to the safe and effective use of agricultural and veterinary chemicals.

Emergency phytosanitary measures for the importation of cucurbit seeds from all countries are being introduced to mitigate the biosecurity risk posed by Melon necrotic spot virus (MNSV) which is seed transmitted in Citrullus lanatus and Cucumis melo.

Draft pest risk analysis and the proposed measures to achieve Australia's appropriate level of protection for the import of fresh dragon fruit from Viet Nam. The draft report includes: - Summary; - Introduction, including Australia's biosecurity policy framework and this pest risk analysis; - Method for pest risk analysis; - Viet Nam's commercial production practices for dragon fruit; - Pest risk assessments for quarantine pests; - Pest risk management; - Conclusion; and - Pest categorisation.

This Proposal seeks to amend the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code to align certain maximum residue limits (MRLs) for various agricultural and veterinary chemicals so that they are consistent with other national regulations relating to the safe and effective use of agricultural and veterinary chemicals.

The requirement for an import permit will be removed but the goods will still have to meet Australia's import conditions to manage biosecurity risks associated with the goods which are described in Attachment 1. The BICON import conditions for frozen canine semen will require the consignment to be accompanied by a veterinary certificate issued by the Government Authority in the approved export country. This veterinary certification will need to certify to the import conditions described in the attached document. These import conditions are for frozen canine semen from New Zealand and a separate set of import conditions for other approved countries. It is expected these changes will take effect later this year or early next year. The import conditions for frozen canine semen and all other commodities will continue to be available through the Department's Biosecurity Import Conditions system (BICON) at: https://bicon.agriculture.gov.au/biconweb4.0.