G/SPS/N/AUS/435  
 
14 September 2017  
(17-4862) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original: English  
 
  
NOTIFICATION  
1. Notifying Member: AUSTRALIA  
If applicable, name of local government involved:  
2. Agency responsible: Australian Government Department of Agriculture and Water 
Resources  
3. Products covered (provide tariff item number(s) as specified in national 
schedules deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers should be provided in addition, 
where applicable): Cut flowers and foliage  
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable : 
[X] All trading partners  
[ ] Specific regions or countries:  
5. Title of the notified document: Importing fresh cut flowers and foliage into Australia 
safely . Language(s): English.  Number of pages: 1 
http://www.agriculture.gov.au/import/goods/plant -products/cut -flowers -foliage/importing -
fresh-cut-flowers -into-aus-safely  
6. Description of content: As part of the ongoing systematic review of Australia's import 
conditions, the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources (the department) has 
reviewed the import conditions for cut flower and foliage imports fr om all countries. The 
analysis of interception data undertaken as part of the review indicates a high detection 
rate of invertebrate pests on imported cut flowers and foliage including thrips, aphids and 
mites. Of particular concern is the high number and frequency of thrips detected as many 
of these are quarantine pests for Australia. Thrips are the primary vectors of tospoviruses, 
many of which are also quarantine pests for Australia.  
The ongoing high number of live pests detected on imported cut flowers poses a level of 
phytosanitary risk that exceeds Australia's appropriate level of protection. In view of this, 
the department is amending import conditions for cut flowers and foliage exported to 
Australia to require that consignments are accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate 
verifying that they are free of live quarantine pests. The amended conditions will also 
require goods to be shipped in insect -proof packaging and labelled with the scientific name 
of the plant species. Certain species will require  a devitalisation treatment to prevent 
propagation. The following phytosanitary measures may be applied to ensure absence of 
quarantine pests to achieve the required phytosanitary status:  
 Produced and prepared for export under an NPPO -approved systems appr oach 
Pre-export fumigation with methyl bromide Alternative pre -shipment disinfestation 
treatments ; 
 The amended import conditions will be published on the department's Biosecurity 
Import Conditions system (BICON) following amendment of the Biosecurity (Proh ibited 
and Conditionally Non -prohibited Goods) Determination 2016 . We anticipate this 
amendment will take place during November or December 2017.  G/SPS/N/AUS/435  
 
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  7. Objective and rationale: [  ] food safety, [  ] animal health, [X]  plant protection, 
[ ] protect humans from  animal/plant pest or disease, [  ] protect territory from 
other damage from pests.  
8. Is there a relevant international standard? If so, identify the standard:  
[ ] Codex Alimentarius Commission (e.g.  title or serial number of Codex 
standard or related text) :  
[ ] World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) (e.g.  Terrestrial or Aquatic 
Animal Health Code, chapter number) :  
[X] International Plant Protection Convention (e.g.  ISPM number) : ISPM 11 
section 3.6.1 (Monitoring and review of phytosanitary measur es) 
[ ] None  
Does this proposed regulation conform to the relevant international standard?  
[X] Yes   [  ] No 
If no, describe, whenever possible, how and why it deviates from the 
international standard:  
9. Other relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:  
10. Proposed date of adoption (dd/mm/yy) : November or December 2017  
Proposed date of publication (dd/mm/yy) : November or December 2017  
11. Proposed date of entry into force: [  ] Six months from date of publication , and/or  
(dd/mm/yy) : November or December 2017  
[ ] Trade facilitating measure  
12. Final date for comments: [X]  Sixty days from the date of circulation of the 
notification and/or (dd/mm/yy) : 12 November 2017  
Agency or authority designated to handle comments: [  ] National Notification 
Authority, [X]  National Enquiry Point. Address, fax number and e -mail address (if 
available) of other body:  
The Australian SPS Notification Point  
GPO Box 858  
Canberra ACT 2601  
Australia  
Fax: +(61 2) 6272 3678  
E-mail: sps.contact@agriculture.gov.au  
13. Text(s) available from: [  ] National Notification Authority, [X]  National Enquiry 
Point. Address, fax number and e -mail address (if available) of other body: