Notice to Industry 15/2010

Enhancements to the AQIS Import Management System (AIMS) in relation to legislated quarantine directions

The purpose of this Notice is to advise industry of enhancements to AIMS.

NOTE: There will be an AIMS outage on Saturday, 12 June 2010 from 1 pm to 9 pm EST while the system is being updated.

Why were enhancements made?
The electronic enhancements were developed to assist quarantine officers in meeting their legal obligation under the Quarantine Act 1908 in relation to ordering goods into quarantine and issuing treatment and destruction directions.

What are the benefits to Industry?
National consistency in decision making and process
AQIS has been developing systems and processes to assist in ensuring decisions are applied consistently across all regions, and in accordance with our regulatory and legislative requirements. The latest Customs Broker and Forwarders Council of Australia (CBFCA) survey on AQIS service conducted in March 2010 again highlighted this as an issue of industry concern.

Electronic form issuing capability
When fully implemented AIMS will have the capability to issue electronic Order Into Quarantine (OIQ) directions, as well as electronic Agreement To Treat (ATT) and Destruction forms.

What changes will industry see?
Most enhancements will be invisible to industry with the following exceptions:

1. Electronic Agreement to Treat process

Section 48AA(4) of the Quarantine Act 1908 states: if a quarantine officer believes on reasonable grounds that the goods cannot be effectively treated without damaging them, the quarantine officer must, by notice in writing given to the owner of the goods or the agent of the owner, tell the owner or agent that the treatment is likely to damage the goods and request the owner or agent to agree to the goods being treated.

Industry has highlighted the national inconsistency in application of this legal requirement. As a result a national training package and systems enhancements have been made to improve this. They are as follows:

• If an owner or their authorised agent is aware that a good requires treatment on arrival, they may request permission for the goods to be treated in writing as part of the document assessment process. Enhancements to the electronic documentation lodgement coversheet have been made to assist with this process.
  
• If a quarantine officer during document assessment (if goods not volunteered) or following inspection identifies that a treatment is required, the goods will be OIQ and the quarantine officer will determine if the goods are likely to be damaged by the treatment. Work Instructions and training have been developed to coincide with the systems upgrade to assist with this decision process.
  
• If the quarantine officer determines that the goods are unlikely to be damaged by the treatment, a treatment direction will be issued immediately.
  
• If the quarantine officer believes that there is a possibility that the goods may be damaged by the treatment an ATT form will be issued electronically rather than the treatment direction (see Attachment A). Once the ATT form has been signed by the owner or their authorised agent and returned, the treatment direction will be issued.

The changes in AIMS will ensure that the process is a consistent and automated process. The ATT can be faxed, e-mailed or printed for the importer/agent and can be faxed or e-mailed back to the regions.

REMINDER: The owner/agent may request permission for treatment by using the Documentation Lodgement Cover sheetand nominating treatment as the required action. To facilitate processing, it is recommended that importers/agents use the coversheet to volunteer goods for treatment if their understanding of AQIS’s Import Conditions(including Import Permit conditions) and Policy requirementsindicates treatment is required.

2. Changes to format of Quarantine Directions

Clients may have noticed that the templates for emailed directions, faxed directions and Automatic Entry Processing (AEP) directions are all in different formats. AQIS will be merging the various formats to produce a single template for Quarantine directions. Additionally the relevant section/s of the Quarantine Act 1908 under which the consignment is directed for action will be published on the direction, to ensure importers are aware of the legislation that applies to their consignments. Directions will also include a timeframe for compliance.

When will the changes be implemented?
The ATT capability will be implemented as part of the first AIMS enhancement scheduled for 12 June 2010. The format change in directions and is scheduled for August 2010 at this stage. The destruction form capability will be implemented at a later date to be advised.

Further information