ARCHIVED MEDIA RELEASE
PA/24/06 31 August 2006
Australian Fumigation Accreditation Scheme (AFAS) launched in India
The Australian High Commissioner to India, Mr John McCarthy AO, today announced the launch of the India-Australian Fumigation Accreditation Scheme (India-AFAS).
The scheme, which has been developed jointly through collaboration between the Ministry of Agriculture in the Government of India and the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS), will come into force from 1 September, and involves training Indian fumigators to provide effective fumigation of goods such as timber products and pallets, to meet Australia's stringent quarantine requirements.
India-AFAS would provide benefits for both countries – Indian exports to Australia would be promoted as Australian importers would have increased confidence that goods fumigated by accredited fumigators in India would meet Australia’s quarantine requirements.
The Ministry of Agriculture in the Government of India expects that once India AFAS fumigators have demonstrated their competence by meeting Australian fumigation standards, enhanced trade opportunities will emerge in other markets where AFAS is operating or being introduced – such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, China and the Philippines.
Speaking at the launch in New Delhi, Mr McCarthy recognised the constructive relationship between the Australian and Indian agencies and complimented officials for the successful cooperation between AQIS, officers of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Indian fumigation industry in building fumigation expertise.
Mr McCarthy also acknowledged the efforts and achievements of Mrs Radha Singh, Secretary, Mr A.K.Singh, Special Secretary and Mr Ashish Bahuguna, Joint Secretary and other officials of the Ministry of Agriculture who have worked closely on the programme. Mr David Cox and Ms Meredith Walton from AQIS have also played lead roles in the implementation of India-AFAS.
For Australia, overseas fumigation accreditation schemes such as India-AFAS form an important part of AQIS’s layered approach to quarantine to minimise the risk of pests and diseases entering Australia. The system reduces costs for importers as well as exporters, since ineffective offshore treatments require remedial fumigation in Australia at the importer’s expense. Aside from the cost of another fumigation in Australia, delays can translate into additional cost and inconvenience and erode importer confidence in treatments conducted in that country.
While both the parties are committed to achieving success in implementing the AFAS-India programme, contact points have been established to ensure that there are no bottlenecks and hindrances and to promote regular exchange of correspondence on policy and implementation issues. Mr Ashish Bahuguna, Joint Secretary and Mr Amand Shah, Director, in the Ministry of Agriculture, are handling the overall policy issues.
For enquiries relating to implementation aspects of India-AFAS please contact the Ministry of Agriculture’s Dr PS Chadurkar at 91-129-2413985 or [email protected] or Dr SC Bansal at 91-129-2413985 or [email protected] )