Following the suspension of Australian Queensland log imports at the end of last month, on November 11, the General Administration of Customs of China issued the latest warning notice, because Xiamen and Shenzhen Customs intercepted live forest pests in imported Australian Victoria logs, and decided to suspend Victorian logs imports.
As soon as the news came out, some Australian media began to take the opportunity to speculate, declaring that "China's log ban on Queensland has been extended to Victoria", and also said that this is the latest escalation of tensions between China and Australia.
Brad Coates, vice-chairman of the Building, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Trade Union (CFMMEU) business unit in Australia, is even more anxious that if this continues until Christmas or next year, there will be plenty of unemployment and downtime. He believes that it is because of the government's poor diplomacy that has led to this situation.
Screenshot of the Australian media "Time Newspaper" report
On October 31, 2020, China suspended the import of logs from Queensland, Australia, due to the detection of quarantine pests in imported Australian logs. On 11 November, the Department of Animal and Plant Quarantine of the General Administration of Customs of The People's Republic of China issued a warning circular on further strengthening the quarantine of imported Australian logs:
Recently, Xiamen and Shenzhen customs have intercepted live forest pests in imported Victorian logs. In order to prevent the introduction of pests, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Quarantine of Animals and Plants Entering and Leaving the Country and its Implementing Regulations, the International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures and other relevant provisions, it is hereby decided to suspend the import of logs from the State of Victoria, Australia. The relevant information has been notified to the Australian authorities.
The circular also wrote that in order to protect China's agricultural and forestry production and ecological safety, customs offices are now required to suspend the acceptance of customs declarations for logs shipped in Victoria, Australia after November 11, 2020 (inclusive). Customs are required to further strengthen the quarantine of imported Australian logs, and pests found should be sent to the laboratory for identification in a timely manner. If quarantine pests are detected and there is no effective pest treatment, the relevant goods will be returned or destroyed, and the relevant situation will be reported to the General Administration in a timely manner.
Screenshot of the alert advisory
After the news came out, the Australian media "Times" blamed it on the escalation of tensions between China and Australia. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) announced that China would suspend imports of Victorian logs indefinitely. According to the notice issued by the General Administration of Customs of China, it said that the relevant warning notice was valid until it was lifted.
David Littleproud, Australia's minister of agriculture, has admitted that a pest called the bark beetle has indeed been found in the logs exported from Australia. Telpraud said Chinese Customs had notified the Australian Department of Agriculture of the matter and that as of Nov. 11, all logs from Victoria had been suspended for export. "As far as I know, live bark beetles were found in a batch of logs exported from Victoria this year... For exporting logs affected by forest fires, there are concerns about the effectiveness of fumigation treatment".
Littleprud also said they had notified the log industry and cooperated to "develop countermeasures to strengthen handling and quarantine" and would write to Chinese customs officials in the coming days.
Victorian Agriculture Minister Jaclyn Symes said "if bark beetles are present, there is a legitimate reason to suspend trading and we want to ensure that any quarantine issues can be resolved as soon as possible". Sems claims there is currently no evidence to support this claim.
The ABC reported that in the months leading up to July, bark beetles were found in nearly 30 shipments from Australia to China, including some logs that burned in summer bushfires. According to the introduction, bark beetles usually choose dead or decaying trees as breeding grounds, and if the number of beetles gets out of control, the entire forest will be damaged.
A spokesman for the Australian Forest Products Association said they were working with the Department of Agriculture to get more details on the matter and address the issues that had been identified.
Victorian,corpus majority of timber will be shipped from portland to China, and CEO Greg Tremewen said the outage would have a profound impact on the local economy. The port exports more than 1 million tons of logs per year.
The Victorian government said it would "support the federal government in leading effective negotiations with China". Annual trade in logs exported from Victoria to China is $260 million.
At least two shipments, originally scheduled to be loaded on a ship in Portland, west of Victoria, this week have now been cancelled. There are also concerns about some of the goods already being shipped to China, which could be transshipped to the Vietnamese or Japanese markets.
Brad Coates, vice-chairman of the Business Unit of the Australian Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMMEU), believes that "this is the result of some rather poor diplomatic practices by the Australian government... If this continues until Christmas or next year, there will certainly be a lot of unemployment and work stoppages."
At the regular press conference of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs held on the 12th, a reporter from Reuters asked a question that the Australian state of Victoria said that China found pests in Australian timber and therefore banned imports. Some people in Australia have speculated that at the node where China-Australia relations have deteriorated and China intends to restrict Australian imports, it seems that it is not a coincidence that the Chinese side said that it is not a coincidence that Australian wood pests were found.
In response, spokesman Wang Wenbin said in response that because quarantine pests were intercepted in Australian logs exported to China, the relevant Chinese departments have suspended the import of logs from Queensland, Australia, since October 31, 2020. However, chinese customs have recently intercepted quarantine pests from logs exported to China in Victoria, Australia, which, once introduced, will pose a serious threat to China's agroforestry production and ecological security.
"In order to prevent the risk of plant epidemics at the source, in accordance with relevant Chinese laws and regulations and international standards, the General Administration of Customs of China has decided to suspend the import of logs from Victoria, Australia, from November 11, 2020." Wang Wenbin said that the General Administration of Customs has informed the competent department of the Australian side of the above situation and asked the Australian side to improve the phytosanitary management system for logs exported to China. In his response, Wang Wenbin pointed out that the above-mentioned measures taken by the General Administration of Customs are normal biosecurity precautions, scientific and reasonable, in line with relevant Laws and regulations of China, and also in line with international practices.
"What I would also like to tell you is that the relevant measures taken by the competent Chinese authorities on foreign products exported to China in accordance with laws and regulations are in line with Chinese laws and regulations and international practices, and are also responsible for China's domestic industries and consumers." Wang Wenbin said: At the same time, I would like to stress once again that a healthy and stable China-Australia relationship conforms to the fundamental interests of the two peoples. Mutual respect is the basis and guarantee for practical cooperation among countries. "We hope that the Australian side can match its words with deeds, do more things that are conducive to mutual trust and cooperation between China and Australia, conform to the spirit of the China-Australia comprehensive strategic partnership, and effectively create good conditions and atmosphere for pragmatic cooperation between the two countries in various fields."
Source: World Wide Web