The Gard P&I Club has published an an alert drawing attention to the Asian Gypsy Moth, the destructive forest pest that is known to spread via ocean-going vessels in international trade. In the alert Gard has highlighted that Australia has heightened vessel surveillance for Asian Gypsy Moth and in New Zealand is introducing new requirements from 1 February 2018.
Therefore, vessels calling at certain ports in Asia Pacific between May and September should be inspected and certified free of Asian Gypsy Moth prior to departure. These inspections are undertaken to minimize the potential for regulatory action when arriving in a country where the pest is not native.
According to Gard, countries currently known to regulate and inspect arriving vessels for Asian Gypsy Moth are: USA, Canada, Chile, Australia and New Zealand. The Club summarises the following for:
Australia announced in its Industry Advice Notice No. 06-2018 of 19 January 2018 that the heightened vessel surveillance window for its ports had commenced. The heightened vessel surveillance window for Asian Gypsy Moth in Australian ports is between January and May. Vessels that in the previous 24 months, have visited Asian Gypsy Moth regulated areas in East Russia during the moth’s flight season will be risk assessed by the Australian authorities to determine the need for a targeted inspection on arrival.
New Zealand extended its list of Asian Gypsy Moth regulated areas in the Asia Pacific prior to the 2016 flight season and has now formalised its requirements through the Craft Risk Management Standard (CRMS) for Vessels which enters into force on 1 February 2018. The CRMS continues to require vessels that, in the past 12 months, have visited Asian Gypsy Moth regulated areas in China, East Russia, Japan or Korea during the flight season to provide a valid certificate of freedom from Asian Gypsy Moth upon arrival in New Zealand. However, new for the 2018 flight season is that the pre-departure certificates must be obtained from an inspection body recognised by the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI). For vessels that visited Asian Gypsy Moth regulated areas during the 2017 flight season, the MPI will continue to accept pre-departure certificates provided by one of the inspection bodies listed in its Notice to Shipping: New Zealand’s Measures for Asian Gypsy Moth on Vessels (for 2017 flight season).
Canada, the US and Chile continue to require vessels that, in the past 24 months, have visited one of the infested areas in China, East Russia, Japan or Korea during the flight season to provide a valid certificate of freedom from Asian Gypsy Moth upon arrival. Worth noting, however, is that Chile’s definition of regulated areas includes ports located between 20°and 60° N latitude and may therefore include southern ports in the Asia Pacific that are not regulated by some of the other countries.
