ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement clarified

Customs has advised that, contrary to earlier advice provided to Customs, the AANZFTA will only enter into force on 1 January
2010 for Australia, New Zealand, Brunei, Myanmar (Burma), Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam. This means that the AANZFTA will not enter into force on 1 January 2010 for the remaining ASEAN Member States, namely Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, the Philippines and Thailand. Of course Thailand has a separate free trade agreement already and that
agreement (TAFTA) remains in force. Read more.....

Methyl Bromide Fumigation Issues

From 1st January 2010 all AQIS directed methyl bromide fumigations on imported cargo and goods will only be allowed to be carried out under the AQIS Onshore Fumigation Scheme. The Scheme requires compliance with the AQIS Methyl Bromide Fumigation Standard V1.3 (January 2008) and may have major operational and cost impacts on those parties in the logistics chain who do not meet the current requirements.
Four major areas of concern have been identified and are listed below with reference to the applicable area of the fumigation standard. Details of the specific conditions are attached to the paper (Attachment1) together with the AQIS “Onshore Fumigation Frequently Asked Questions” downloaded from the AQIS website (Attachment 2) Read more.....

 Quarantine is revamping ICON – and you can help!

The Australian Quarantine and Inspection service has begun the redevelopment of its Import Conditions (ICON) database system which houses the import conditions for goods entering Australia. To help AQIS build the new system, users are invited to provide feedback on the current ICON system through an online survey. The survey is anonymous and the results will be consolidated and incorporated into the project's baseline report. The link to the survey is provided below. Read more.....