. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/AUS/184 
21 July 2005 
 (05-3277) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION  
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:   AUSTRALIA
 
If applicable, name of local government involved: 
2. Agency responsible:   Biosecurity Australia 
3. Products covered (provide tariff item numbe r(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where 
applicable):  Plant seeds 
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable:  All 
countries  
5. Title, language and number of pages of the notified document:   The Permitted Seeds List 
Review – Finalisation of stage 1 and commenc ement of stage 2 (Available in English, 
23 pages). 
6. Description of content:   In consultation with stakeholders:  In consultation with 
stakeholders Biosecurity Australia has id entified 3,335 species on the permitted seeds list 
that are not present or traded in Australia and  have demonstrated potential weediness 
overseas.  These species have now been removed from the permitted seeds list.  
The necessary legislative changes to Schedule 5 of the Quarantine Proclamation 1998 
were made on 30 May 2005.  The Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) is updating the import conditions (ICON) database accordingly.  
The removal of species from the permitted seeds list is not a blanket exclusion of these 
species.  At any time importers can apply fo r Biosecurity Australia to undertake a Weed 
Risk Assessment (WRA) on any species (even if  the species has previously been assessed 
by a WRA and new information has become ava ilable) to determine the weed potential of 
the species in Australian agricultural systems and/or the environment. 
Stage two of the review has commenced and will involve Biosecurity Australia 
establishing which species of the 2913 currently  permitted genera are present and/or traded 
in Australia.  In consultation with stakehol ders Biosecurity Australia will recommend a list 
of species to replace genus level listings on the permitted seeds list. 
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. International standard, guideline or recommendation:  
[   ] Codex Alimentarius Commission, [   ] World Organization for Animal Health 
(OIE), [ X ] International Plant Protection Convention, [   ] None  
If an international standard, guideline or recommendation exists, give the appropriate 
reference and briefly identify deviations:    G/SPS/N/AUS/184 
Page 2  
 
 9. Relevant documents and language(s ) in which these are available:  Not applicable 
10. Proposed date of adoption:   Stage 1:  30 May 2005 - Stage 2:  end of 2006 
11. Proposed date of entry into force:   Stage 1:  30 May 2005 - Stage 2:  end of 2006 
12. Final date for comments:   
Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [ X ] National notification 
authority, [   ] National enquiry point, or 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@daff.gov.au Available (in  English) from http :/www.daff.gov.au/plantbiosecurity 
13. Texts available from:  [ X ] National notification authority, [   ] National enquiry point, 
or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body: