There are a number of plant and animal pests which are exotic to Australia which pose a high biosecurity risk to Australia’s agricultural industries and the environment more generally.

The Marmorated Stink can arrive in Australia on cargo and containers shipped between September and April. This coincides with autumn and winter in the Northern Hemisphere.

The Department of Agriculture and Waters Resources (DAWR) has put in place measures to address the risk including mandatory off shore fumigation treatments for certain classes of shipments originating from high risk countries.

These countries are: the United States of America, Italy, Germany, France, Russia, Greece, Hungary, Romania, Georgia and Japan.

In general, the Australia International Movers Association (AIMA) & DAWR considers the risk associated with containerised personal effects imports to be relatively low, nevertheless AIMA members’ depots are on high alert and any potential sightings either inside or outside of the container will result in a mandatory methyl bromide. fumigation. Fumigation costs are the responsibility of the shipper (import client).

Information courtesy of AIMA.