Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB) measures for 2020-21 season

Kurt Hilzinger Oct 07, 2020 0 Comment
CFL would like to remind all importers that the 2020-21 Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB) season is not far away now and the new measures for this season have been announced by the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment.
The main change this season is that three additional countries have been added to the list with Portugal, Ukraine and Moldova now being included as target risk countries.Please note the below important information regarding this new season of BMSB for your information.Seasonal measures for 2020-21 BMSB – applies to:
– certain goods manufactured in, or shipped from target risk countries, and/or
– vessels that berth at, load or tranship from target risk countries,Season dates:
Effective for vessels that berth at, load or tranship from target risk countries, on or after the 1 September 2020 and that arrive in Australian territory by 31 May 2021 (inclusive).Goods
Any target high risk or target risk goods which are manufactured in, or shipped from the target risk countries will be subject to BMSB seasonal measures (click here for further details on risk goods).
All target high risk goods will require mandatory treatment and all target risk goods will be subject to increased onshore intervention through random inspections.Target risk countries
The following countries have been categorised as target risk:
Albania                                 Georgia                    Portugal
Andorra                                Germany                  Romania
Armenia                               Greece                       Russia
Austria                                  Hungary                   Serbia
Azerbaijan                            Italy                          Slovakia
Belgium                                Kosovo                      Slovenia
Bosnia and Herzegovina   Liechtenstein          Spain
Bulgaria                                Luxembourg           Switzerland
Canada                                 Montenegro             Turkey
Croatia                                 Moldova                Ukraine
Czechia                                Netherlands             United States of America
France                                  North Macedonia
Japan (heightened vessel surveillance will be the only measure applied)In addition, the department continues to review the changing risk status of BMSB and will also be undertaking random onshore inspections on goods from other emerging risk countries to verify pest absence in goods.

The following countries have been identified as emerging risk countries for the 2020–21 BMSB risk season and may be selected for a random onshore inspection:
Belarus, Denmark, Ireland, Poland, Sweden, United Kingdom, Kazakhstan and Chile.
The department are also monitoring other countries through a lower rate of random inspections. These include all remaining European countries, Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan, Argentina, South Africa and Uruguay.

Mandatory offshore treatment – Break Bulk consignments, open top containers & flat racks

Mandatory offshore treatment by an approved provider is required for target high risk goods shipped as break bulk cargo, including goods shipped in open top containers or on flat rack containers. It’s important that you pass on this information to your suppliers if they intend to ship using these methods, as any target high risk goods requiring mandatory offshore treatment that arrive untreated, or treated by an unapproved treatment provider in a target risk country, will be directed for export on arrival.

Container packing
Un-treated containers that arrive and are considered ‘overpacked’ may be directed for unpack and treatment or re-export. Therefore, it’s strongly advised that all containers are packed with appropriate space left that will enable effective treatment and any plastic wrapping or other packaging used must provide adequate access to the goods for the treatment to be effective. If not, the ‘overpacked’ container may need to be re-exported or unpacked and treated at a specialist facility which will result in long delays and increased costs for the importer.

Treatment options
The approved treatment options for BMSB risk are heat treatment, methyl bromide fumigation and sulphuryl fluoride fumigation.
All offshore treatment providers in target risk countries must first register and be approved by the department and all existing treatment providers will also need to be re-registered with the department for this new season.

Further information:
For further information please refer to the following links directly to the departments’ web site –
Seasonal measures for Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB)
BMSB factsheet
Target high risk goods factsheet