Aid for Trade in Action: The Australian Fumigation Accreditation Scheme
The Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) developed the Australian Fumigation Accreditation Scheme in 2004, to improve the effectiveness of fumigation on Australian bound consignments. The Scheme reduces the need for re-fumigation on arrival in Australia, and therefore limits the use of ozone-depleting methyl bromide. The Scheme focuses on regional trading partners and has been implemented in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, while implementation is progressing in Sri Lanka and China.
AQIS officers provide training to quarantine officers and fumigators in effective fumigation, as well as in scheme management, auditing and train-the-trainer training. The Scheme has important trade benefits, as it facilitates imports with faster clearance of cargo, increases surety of clearance and reduces costs by negating the need for additional inspections, container uplifts, transfer and refumigation.
The OECD and World Trade Organization recently recognised that the Scheme's improved fumigation techniques in Indonesia saved an estimated USD4 million and saved about 12 tonnes of ozone-depleting methyl bromide.