With the inclusion of the Port of Lautoka in the Sea Container Hygiene System (SCHS), exporting from Lautoka to Australia will now become easier.
Under the system, sea containers are cleaned at recognised SCHS facilities prior to transporting to the port for hygienic storage until loading in accordance with required protocols.
With ongoing compliance, external sea container inspections on arrival could be reduced to as low as 5 per cent, resulting in cost savings for Fijian businesses and faster movement of containers at the wharves.
Biosecurity Authority of Fiji CEO Michael Bartlett said they’d worked hard over the past few years to extend the SCHS to Lautoka Port.
“The SCHS has already been successfully implemented at the Port of Suva. High compliance has resulted in container inspections into Australia under the system being reduced by 95 per cent in recent years,” he said.
“This has led to reduced costs for Fijian exporters. We’re pleased to extend these benefits to the Port of Lautoka.”
Australia charge d’affaires Stuart Watts said an important element of the Vuvale Partnership was supporting increased trade between Australia and Fiji.
“This is a practical example of an improvement enabling high-quality Fijian exports to get on to Australian shelves more quickly, and with lower costs to exporters,” he said.
Fiji Australia Business Council president Vera Chute also welcomed the announcement and said the council had been advocating for improvements to container processing times for Fijian exports.
“We’re pleased the Australian and Fijian governments have listened to our concerns and helped reduce the costs of exporting from Fiji to Australia,” she said.
