Vinehealth Australia reminds all South Australian businesses importing regulated items into the state, to ensure you are aware of – and comply with – importation requirements as outlined in the South Australian Plant Quarantine Standard (PQS) (SA PQS).
Regulated items are those items identified to carry pests that we want to keep out of our state. Entry of such items is either prohibited or subject to meeting documented entry requirements. Examples of regulated items relating to the wine industry include propagation material, machinery, equipment, grapes, and grape products.
Entry requirements for regulated items to minimise the risk of introducing grape phylloxera, can be found in Condition 7 in the SA PQS. In most situations there is more to importing a regulated item than just having a biosecurity document accompanying the consignment.
Two important aspects you must comply with when importing regulated items into SA for commercial purposes are:
- Registering as an importing business through PIRSA Biosecurity SA before you import
In practice, this means obtaining “Importer Registration”.
There are three general options for Importer Registration available (outlined below), however, the key factors that will determine which of these options is applicable to your circumstances, include:
- Type of regulated items being imported (refer to the table below as an excerpt from SA PQS Condition 7, Table 1).
- How many imports you predict doing in the year.
- Whether your business wants to be able to undertake its own inspections of the imported items.
Importer Registration options
- Plant Health Import Certificate (PHIC)
- Generally applicable to a business undertaking only a single import in a year.
- The only option when importing a grape harvester.
- To obtain, download and complete the application form listed under PIRSA Importers application forms.
- Importer Registration (IR01) accreditation
- Generally applicable where multiple imports will be undertaken in a year for a business not wanting to undertake direct inspections.
- To obtain, download and complete the application form.
- Import Verification Compliance Arrangement (IVCA) CA-01 accreditation
- Generally applicable for businesses undertaking multiple imports in a year, and those wanting to undertake direct inspections of their imported consignments.
- IVCA also allows businesses to self-inspect and verify consignments.
- To obtain, download and complete the application form.
| Item to be imported | Method of importer registration for SINGLE imports by a business in a year | Method of importer registration for MULTIPLE imports by a business in a year |
| Lignified cuttings and dormant rootlings from a PEZ | PHIC | IR01 or IVCA |
| Equipment from a PEZ excluding netting, trellis posts, vine guards, dripper tube, wire, clips | ||
| Used vessels that have held grapes or used hand tools from a PRZ/PIZ/PIBZ | ||
| Table grapes & wine grapes from a PEZ | ||
| Crushed fresh grapes (must) and unfiltered (fresh) juice from a PEZ | ||
| Grape marc and destemmer waste from fresh grapes in a PEZ | ||
| Used machinery including grape harvester | PHIC | |
| Crushed fresh grapes (must) and unfiltered (fresh) juice from a PRZ/PIZ/PIBZ | ICA22 | |
| Diagnostic samples to an accredited laboratory only | Covered by CA12 accreditation of the laboratory | |
PEZ = Phylloxera Exclusion Zone
PRZ = Phylloxera Risk Zone
PIZ = Phylloxera Infested Zone
PIBZ = Phylloxera Interim Buffer Zone
- Undertaking Direct inspection
In practice this means having your consignment checked and cleared on arrival at the SA border by PIRSA staff, or at an alternative location by a business accredited under IVCA by PIRSA to undertake such checks.
There are two options for Direct Inspection available:
- Direct Inspection undertaken by a PIRSA Inspector
- To request a direct inspection from PIRSA:
- download and complete the request form and email to PIRSA.PlantHealthMarketAccess@sa.gov.au indicating preferred time and date for the inspection; or complete the online request form
- email manifest details to PIRSA.PlantHealthManifest@sa.gov.au, including a clear description of the produce type, quantity, carrier details, name and address of the sender, name and address of the receiver, consignment note number and estimated date and time of arrival
- Direct Inspection undertaken by an IVCA accredited receiving business
- To obtain, download and complete the application form.
Contact PIRSA’s Biosecurity SA Market Access team on 08 8207 7814 for all importation queries.
This article is an update to one posted in December 2022