Consignments are to be free from pests, soil, weed seeds and extraneous material.
Woodchips with bark should have gone through effective quarantine treatment in the exporting country or region, and the Phytosanitary certificate should indicate the method, chemical and dosage, duration and temperature of the treatment.
Woodchips free of bark should be declared on the Phytosanitary certificate.
Woodchips without an accompanying Phytosanitary certificate, or woodchips with bark that have not gone through quarantine treatment shall not be allowed to enter China.
General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) will inspect imported woodchips, and if quarantine pests are found, quarantine treatment must be conducted by the importer under the supervision of AQSIQ, with the cost of treatment being borne by the importer.
If the treatment could not be conducted, the woodchips shall be refused entry.
The woodchips shall be described as either: Woodchips - with bark or Woodchips - de-barked.
Contact your local Department of Agriculture Plant Exports Office for more details in relation to:
- Inspection of the container prior to loading
- Inspection of the woodchips prior to loading
- Mandatory treatment of woodchips with bark (pre-shipment)
- Phytosanitary certification
The Export Control Act 2020 and the Export Control (Wood and Woodchips) Rules 2021, require an export licence issued by the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment for any exports of two tonnes or more of:
- woodchips;
- wood in the round (i.e. logs);
- wood with a cross sectional area of at least 225 square centimetres
These are considered ‘prescribed goods’ under the Export Control (Wood and Woodchips) Rules 2021.
A licence is not required for the above listed wood and woodchips if:
If an export licence is required, it is the responsibility of exporters to obtain a licence to export prescribed wood or woodchips prior to export.
Exporters can find information on how to obtain an export licence for prescribed wood or woodchips on the departments website - https://www.awe.gov.au/agriculture-land/forestry/industries/export.
Any enquires on what is classed as prescribed wood or woodchips should be directed to: wood.export@awe.gov.au, or call (02) 6272 4353.
The only responsibility authorised officers have in relation to the export licences for unprocessed wood is to inform unprocessed wood exporters of the possible requirement to hold a licence to export unprocessed wood.
