For the new season beginning September 2020, New Zealand and Australia have introduced the measures to combat increasing spread of Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMST) coming from targeted “BMST” countries which have now risen to 37 countries with the inclusion of Kazakhstan, Moldova, Portugal and Ukraine.
The Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB) season has begun effective 1 September 2020. As usual, Australia and New Zealand authorities have set out their requirements for the current season 2020/21 to ensure that these bugs are kept out of their countries. BMSBs are a serious pest and pose a threat to the country’s agricultural industries and are frequently found in goods carried as sea-freight upon arrival.
The measures are imposed on a targeted list of risk-countries where these goods come from. For the current season 2020/21, both countries have now added Kazakhstan, Moldova, Portugal and Ukraine, making a total of 37 countries on the list now. In addition, the following countries have been identified as emerging risk countries and may be selected for a random onshore inspection:
Belarus, Denmark, Ireland, Sweden, United Kingdom and Chile
The governments are also monitoring other countries through a lower rate of random inspections and this includes all remaining European countries, China, Korea, Taiwan, Argentina, South Africa and Uruguay.
Source: BIMCO
