Biosecurity issues cause backlogs

The discharging of thousands of cars in Australia has been delayed by increased biosecurity inspections.

The problems stem from seeds being found in vehicles and holdups then being experienced at major ports, such as Brisbane and Melbourne.

The issues were highlighted by Australian media outlet Drive in March when it reported at least two-dozen vehicle carriers were anchored offshore or were in transit between ports for quarantine cleaning teams to treat cargo.

Stevedores say it normally takes 24 hours to unload a ship carrying 3,000 new cars. But quarantine teams can only process nine per hour during normal business hours. At that rate, each team can get through about 350 cars per week.

Melbourne has been reported as being the worst-affected port, while some ships have been held offshore for up to two weeks.

Most marques, and especially cars made in Asia-Pacific and China, have been hit by delays whether they are of quarantine concern or not. European brands have become involved because vehicles from other companies on the same vessels have had biosecurity detections.

The Department of Agriculture (DoA) doesn’t hold an entire shipment in Australian ports based on the inspection results of a single car. “However, depending on the type of risk, a larger number of vehicles may be held particularly if ‘hitch-hiker’ pests that can fly or move about during a voyage present a broader concern and potentially affect a greater number of vehicles,” it says.

Biosecurity threats tend to peak with shipments of cars and containers arriving in warmer months. Risks include snails, seeds, soil and dried plant material, which are known to contaminate new vehicles, while stink bugs are of particular concern.

The peak for seasonal pests is November to March, but that depends on the northernhemisphere climate and it can start earlier or last until later in the season.

The DoA says it has been seeing a significant increase in biosecurity risk material [BRM] on new cars.

“Vehicle manufacturers should put in place processes offshore to ensure BRM does not contaminate vehicles in the first instance,” it adds. “If there is a chance this has occurred, vehicles should be cleaned prior to loading.”

Imports of new cars in March came in at 7,698. This was down 25.4 per cent from the same month a year ago, but 11.4 per cent above February’s total of 6,912 units.

Registrations of 11,628 new passenger vehicles were completed last month, which was up 3.8 per cent from March 2022. It also represented an 86 per cent increase from 6,250 units in February.

The numbers have resulted in the stock of new cars still to be registered dropping by 3,930 to 77,985. Daily registrations, as averaged over the previous 12 months, stand at 317 per day – up from 305 a year earlier.

March’s results mean stock athand has increased to 246 days, or 8.1 months, if sales continue at the current rate. In the same month of 2022, stock at-hand stood at 270 days.

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