Fruit sourced from outside fruit fly pest free areas, or declared outbreak zones within PFAs, must be treated for Queensland fruit fly, Lesser Queensland fruit fly and Jarvis fruit fly and are subject to onshore cold treatment or in-transit cold treatment.
The following cold treatment parameters apply:
Innermost fruit pulp temperature (degrees Celsius) - Exposure period (consecutive days):
- 0 degrees Celsius or below for 13 days or more;
OR
- 0.56 degrees Celsius or below for 14 days or more;
OR
- 1.11 degrees Celsius or below for 18 days or more;
OR
- 1.67 degrees Celsius or below for 20 days or more;
OR
- 2.22 degrees Celsius or below 22 days or more
Fruit originating from Western Australia must be treated for Mediterranean fruit fly using the following cold treatment parameters:
Innermost fruit pulp temperature (degrees Celsius) - Exposure period (consecutive days):
- 1.11 degrees Celsius or below for 14 days or more
OR
- 1.67 degrees Celsius or below for 16 days or more
OR
- 2.22 degrees Celsius or below for 18 days or more
In-transit cold treatment
In-transit cold treatment (ITCT) may be carried out partly as a pre-shipment treatment commencing in Australia and completed in-transit. In the event of treatment failure, treatment may be completed on arrival.
A 'Certificate of calibration for ITCT' must be signed and stamped by an Authorised Officer (with the appropriate job function) and the original attached to the phytosanitary certificate, which must accompany the consignment. The date of treatment initiation must also be included on the 'Certificate of calibration for ITCT'.
Onshore cold treatment
Onshore cold treatment facilities must be Registered Establishments and also be accredited by the department and Thailand Department of Agriculture.
A minimum of four fruit pulp temperature sensors are required for onshore cold treatment.
Provided all conditions for Thailand are met, apricots for export to Thailand are permitted to be treated with fruit destined for other markets.
An Authorised Officer (with the appropriate job function) must supervise the commencement and completion of onshore cold treatment including probe placement and loading of palletised fruit into the cold room.
Before the treatment ceases the temperature data must be downloaded, printed and provided to an Authorised Officer (with the appropriate job function) for review to ensure the treatment meets the requirements.
Note:
- The onshore cold treatment temperature data (report) must be endorsed by the Authorised Officer (with the appropriate job function) to confirm that the treatment has been successful.
- For onshore cold treatment the exporter is responsible to ensure that each consignment is accompanied with the onshore cold treatment data and onshore cold treatment calibration and re-calibration record/certificate as required by the protocol.
Treated fruit cannot be stored with any other fruit and must be exported within 28 days of inspection or it will require reinspection.
Details of the treatment temperature and period (number of consecutive days) are to be entered in the "Disinfestation and/or Disinfection Treatment" section of the phytosanitary certificate.
The name and number of the Export Registered Establishment and the room number where onshore cold treatment was conducted must be entered in the ‘Lot number’ field (a free text field) of the EXDOC Request For Permit (RFP) as:
For example, ONSHORE COLD TREATMENT AT ABC FREIGHT / 9999-1.
There is to be no deviation from this text format.
