From 15 June 2022, international ships arriving in Australia will have to comply with new requirements for managing biofouling. This will include biofouling reporting requirements prior to arriving in Australian territorial seas.
In about four months, Australia will
require all ships that enter or intend to enter Australian territory to comply
with its mandatory Biofouling requirements.
The Biosecurity Amendment (Biofouling
Management) Regulations 2021, which come into force on 15 June 2022, will
require ships to report information about biofouling management and the voyage
history of the ship in the past 12 months through a ship’s pre-arrival report.
From 15 June 2022 to 15 December
2023, an education first approach will be taken, however, powers under the
Biosecurity Act 2015 will continue to be used to manage unacceptable
biosecurity risk associated with biofouling.
Ship operators will need to provide
information on biofouling management to the Maritime Arrivals Reporting System
(MARS) prior to arrival.
According to Australia, the new
policy is consistent with the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) 2011
Guidelines for the Control and Management of Ships’ Biofouling to Minimize the
Transfer of Invasive Aquatic Species. It is therefore anticipated that
Australia will expect international ships to comply with the IMO guidelines
including implementing a biofouling management plan (BFMP) and carrying records
in a biofouling record book (BFRB).
Australia has also announced that
information provided by the ships will be used to target and conduct physical
inspections.
Ship operators may receive fewer
physical inspections for biofouling if they comply with one of the following
three accepted biofouling management practices:
Implementation of an effective
biofouling management plan; or
Cleaned all biofouling within 30 days
prior to arriving in Australian territory; or
Implementation of an alternative
biofouling management method pre-approved by the department.
Further information at,
Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια:
Δημοσίευση σχολίου