Asian Gypsy Moth certification for marine vessels entering Canadian ports
This news comes from the Shipwowners Club:
Category: Regulation Date: 15/05/2012 Area: Worldwide
We would like to advise Members that from 1st March 2012 the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) commenced full enforcement of the certification and entry requirement for marine vessels arriving from the expanded regulated area including ports located in Russian, Far East, Japan, the republic of Korea, and all ports north of Shanghai in the People’s Republic of China.
Recently one of our Members’ vessels was ordered to divert for an Asian Gypsy Moth Inspection due to inadequate notice to CFIA, and this resulted in unnecessary cost and significant delay.
CFIA requires all marine vessels that have visited ports located in the expanded regulated area during the specified period for Asian Gypsy Moth (AGM) must provide to the CFIA the following:
- 96-hour advance notice of arrival
- List of previous ports of call over the last two years
- Valid Phytosanitary Certificate or other approved certificate. (The certificate must state that the vessel was inspected and found free from AGM from the last port of call in a regulated area during the specified risk period).
The table below details the expanded regulated area and specific times they are affected by AGM:
A vessel without the required certification may not be permitted entry into Canada. CFIA may conduct inspections at remote anchorages as an alternative to refusing entry. All costs linked to the disruption of loading/unloading schedules and commitments are the responsibility of the vessel’s owner. Vessels found to be non-compliant with Canadian legislation may be subject to enforcement action up to and including prosecution.
We advise all Members with vessels scheduled to enter Canadian ports to ensure that they are in compliance with this regulation.
Source of information: http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/plaveg/for/certmarine.shtml
