BIMCO provides up-to-date information on the Asian gypsy moth season (AGM) 2021.
Members are hereby reminded that calling at areas considered AGM high risk have to be aware of the AGM requirements imposed on ships by various governments that are bent on keeping AGM at bay. The usual suspects are Australia, Canada, USA, Chile and New Zealand. Argentina is the latest country to join the ranks by having AGM regulations in place effective from April 2021.
The AGM high risk period usually starts from late May to September. A ship that has called at a port in the regulated AGM area during the specified risk period of the current or previous year will be considered a ship of high AGM risk and in general is required to get a proper AGM-free certificate at the last port visited at the high risk area. Some countries, e.g., Canada has their own inspection regimes where arrivals in Canada subject to AGM inspections are from 1 March to 15 September for western ports and from 15 March to 15 September for eastern ports, taking into account of the specified risk periods indicated in their requirements.
In addition, Canada has revised their AGM Policy Directive as follows:
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Section 2.1 has been updated to clarify the requirement that AGM inspection reports which indicate the presence of AGM life stages, after AGM certification has been issued in an AGM regulated area, must be presented to the Canada Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).
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Section 3.0 has been updated to outline conditions for exempting a vessel from inspection by the CFIA if the vessel presents the required phytosanitary certificate or other approved certificate for AGM and a negative inspection report from New Zealand
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Section 4.3 has been added to clarify that failure of the Canadian agent to notify the CFIA of the arrival of a regulated vessel, prior to the vessel entering Canadian water is considered to be a non-compliance
Members are advised to refer to our AGM section for information and guidance on the AGM regulations imposed by the above-mentioned countries, as well as using our BIMCO AGM clause for Time Charter Parties 2015.
The opinions expressed herein are the author's and not necessarily those of The Xinde Marine News.
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