| Welcome to the Freight & Trade Alliance (FTA) Biosecurity Report, your one-stop update on the latest operational issues and notices issued by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF). This report is designed to keep you informed and prepared to manage biosecurity compliance effectively in an ever-changing landscape.
This Week in Biosecurity
This week's biosecurity report covers major developments across funding, market access, vessel reporting and system lodgement processes. The Department has released its 2024-25 Biosecurity Funding and Expenditure Report, providing expanded transparency on how Australia's biosecurity system is being financed and aligned to the Biosecurity 2030 Roadmap.
In trade news, Australia is set to resume bulk canola exports to China for the first time since 2020 under a controlled trial shipment. A regulatory change has been announced for non-commercial vessel operators, with verbal Pre-Arrival Reports to be phased out by February 2026. DAFF has also confirmed the fix to the recent COLS lodgement error affecting craft arriving under their own power, with normal lodgement functionality restored.
We hope you enjoy this week's report.
Summary - Biosecurity Funding and Expenditure Report 2024-25
The Department has released the 2024-25 Biosecurity Funding and Expenditure Report, now in its second year of dedicated financial reporting. The report reinforces the Commonwealth's commitment to transparency in biosecurity budgeting and spend, and is available on the department's website.
This year's edition builds on the inaugural report by introducing: - New expenditure breakdowns across control stages (pre-border, at-border, post-border) and biosecurity risk pathways
- Progress reporting against the nine strategic actions in the Biosecurity 2030 Roadmap
- A clearer, more accessible structure to improve usability
Notably, it includes the first formal update on Roadmap implementation since its launch in October 2024, outlining how current programs and investments align with long-term biosecurity objectives.
Key Figures: - Total biosecurity expenditure in 2024-25: ~$868.2 million (actual) vs budget ~$885.7 million.
- Split of activities: Import clearance (air, sea, containers) ~$276.6 m; self-assessed clearance (SAC) ~$37.1 m; post-entry quarantine ~$28.8 m; maritime vessels ~$36.0 m; mail ~$24.8 m; international passengers ~$102.9 m.
- Cargo/consignments: In 2024-25 cargo volumes rose 24.8% year-on-year, SAC consignments grew ~25.6% to 150.3 m.
This year's report also provides the first progress update on the Biosecurity 2030 Roadmap, highlighting reforms such as offshore treatment assurance (AusTreat), greater digitalisation through the STEPS program, and strengthened risk-based targeting. The report reinforces the government's push for transparency while signalling increasing compliance expectations for customs brokers, importers, and supply chain operators.
Read the report HERE.
- Return of Australian Canola to China
Australia is set to export its first bulk shipment of canola to China since 2020, with a 60,000-tonne cargo scheduled to begin loading next week at CBH Group's Esperance terminal in Western Australia. The shipment, which is part of a tightly controlled trial arrangement agreed between DAFF and Chinese authorities, will sail to Qingdao under strict phytosanitary conditions listed in DAFF's Manual of Importing Country Requirements (Micor).
China was previously a major customer for Australian canola, until trade ceased in 2020 following blackleg disease detections. If this trial shipment is successful, it is expected to pave the way for multiple cargo bookings already anticipated in the trade and may reopen a valuable market for both GM and non-GM Australian seed. Currently only bulk cargoes approved by the department are permitted, with containerised exports still banned.
Australia is the world's second-largest canola exporter after Canada, and currently relies heavily on European markets, with Belgium and Germany taking the bulk of recent exports. Re-entry into China — historically a high-volume buyer — would provide a major upside for exporters and growers as the 2025–26 harvest begins.
Industry groups, including Grain Trade Australia, have welcomed the development, noting it follows months of negotiation between DAFF and China's General Administration of Customs (GACC). The USDA has also noted the potential reopening in its recent global oilseed outlook, indicating market access could resume pending successful trial shipments.
- Non-Commercial Vessel – October Newsletter
The Department has announced a key regulatory change for non-commercial vessels: from 27 February 2026, all Pre-Arrival Reports (PAR) must be submitted in writing only (including electronically), removing the verbal reporting option. A 6-month transition period (Aug 2025–Feb 2026) is now underway to allow operators to adjust. Read more HERE.
Vessel operators are reminded that a submitted PAR must be amended if voyage plans change, particularly where a vessel diverts to a different First Point of Entry (FPOE). Arriving at a port that is not an approved FPOE is an offence under the Biosecurity Act 2015.
The department also reported a busy yacht season, reminding recreational vessel operators that: - Yachts must follow the same PAR lodgement timeframes (90 days to 12 hours before arrival)
- Any change of arrival port must be updated in the PAR prior to arrival
- AIS transponders should remain switched on and transmitting before arrival and while travelling around Australian territory
- Most yachts do not carry ballast water, but where ballast tanks exist, operators must notify biosecurity officers (part of an ongoing inspection campaign running to 30 November 2025)
For biosecurity queries relating to non-commercial vessels, industry can contact: conveyance.maritime@aff.gov.au
- COLS Lodgement Update - Craft Under Own Power
DAFF has confirmed that the recent COLS lodgement issue affecting importers and customs brokers submitting documents for craft arriving under their own power (or where the arrival mode was lodged as "other") has now been fully resolved. The system fix was deployed late last week, and successful lodgements have since been completed without error.
As part of the update, brokers may notice a small visual change when lodging via the Full Import Declaration (FID) pathway. Fields that previously required manual entry are no longer displayed, as this information will now be automatically sourced from AIMS based on the FID number entered. This data will continue to be passed to the assessment team as expected. Read more HERE. |