As part of direct engagement with the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) advice has been received the following advice in relation to Imported Foods Inspections.
As highlighted in recent communications from Freight & Trade Alliance (FTA), - available HERE, DAFF has been operating in a challenging resource environment for some time.
This challenge stems from broader national and global labour shortages, as well as internal constraints due to funding limitations and a lack of reviews in cost recovery mechanisms and Machinery of Government changes.
DAFF officers are a valuable but limited resource, particularly those accredited to conduct Imported Foods Inspections. To alleviate the strain on these crucial resources, FTA recommends that members explore the feasibility of utilising Virtual Visual inspections whenever possible. As demonstrated below, the difference in turnaround times can be as much as 9 days!
Advice as received from DAFF
As you may be aware in NSW, the department continues to face challenges in physically servicing imported food inspections, yet the department has capacity to perform virtual inspections of eligible Surveillance Foods which, if utilised will alleviate this pressure significantly.
Please note, current turn-around time for a virtual inspection is under 3 days whereas of this email, the lead time for a physical inspection is over 12 days.
As of 3/4/2024 in NSW, there was 142 entries in the system subject to the Imported Food Inspection Scheme (IFIS) with 94 of these entries being Surveillance Food.
82 or 87% of these surveillance entries were all eligible for virtual inspection.
If all these entries were able to be done virtually, a minimum of 40 hours would be freed up for physical inspections of ineligible Surveillance and Risk Foods.
As of this email, NSW now has 156 entries subject to IFIS of which 107 are surveillance food. With a view to improve the current situation, the department is seeking your collaboration to encourage importers to have their eligible surveillance foods inspected virtually.
If your clients are not registered for virtual inspections, please refer them to IFN 06-22 for further details and encourage them to register and undergo the connectivity testing.
The department has implemented additional measures to assist including redeploying staff from interstate, increased training and upskilling of staff, expanding commodities that are eligible for virtual inspection and having staff dedicated to imported food inspections only. However, these measures take time and will not provide as much relief as having eligible inspections done virtually.
Sal Milici - Licensed Customs Broker
General Manager Trade Policy & Operations - FTA / APSA
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