BMSB Season: Stink Bug Rules for Importers
Every year from spring to autumn, Australia runs mandatory seasonal measures against the brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) — a hitchhiker pest that hides in cargo and could devastate Australian horticulture if it established here. If you import machinery, vehicles, metals or building materials from the northern hemisphere, BMSB compliance is not optional — untreated goods are treated at your expense, refused discharge, or exported.
Check your shipment in 30 seconds with our BMSB season checker.
The dates that matter
- Measures apply to target goods manufactured in or shipped from target risk countries and shipped on board between 1 September and 30 April (inclusive).
- The shipped on board date on the ocean Bill of Lading is the only date that counts — "gate in" dates are not accepted.
- Goods shipped in the window remain subject to the measures regardless of arrival date — a container shipped 28 April that arrives in June is still caught.
- Roll-on/roll-off vessel measures (Seasonal Pest Questionnaire, mandatory pest inspections) run to 30 June.
Target risk countries
Standard measures apply to goods manufactured in or shipped from: Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czechia, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Moldova, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Türkiye, Ukraine, United States of America and Uzbekistan.
Emerging risk countries — United Kingdom, China, Japan and Republic of Korea: goods shipped from these countries may be selected for random onshore inspection (mandatory treatment does not apply). For these countries, random inspections also extend to tariff chapters 39 (plastics), 94 (furniture/bedding) and 95 (toys/games). China, Japan and Korea are additionally subject to heightened vessel surveillance for Ro-Ro vessels.
Two rules catch importers off guard:
- Manufacture counts, not just shipping. Goods made in a target risk country keep their BMSB obligations even if exported to you through an emerging or non-target country.
- Hubbing doesn't wash the risk off. LCL cargo from a target risk country consolidated through a third-country hub into a FAK container is still managed for BMSB at the container level.
Which goods are targeted
Target high risk goods — mandatory treatment:
| Chapters | Examples |
|---|---|
| 44–45 | Wood & articles of wood, cork |
| 57 | Carpets & textile floor coverings |
| 68–70 | Stone, cement & plaster articles; ceramics; glass |
| 72–83 | Iron, steel, copper, nickel, aluminium & other base metals and articles |
| 84–85 | Machinery & mechanical appliances; electrical machinery |
| 86–89 | Railway stock, vehicles & parts, aircraft, ships & boats |
Target risk goods — random inspection (no mandatory treatment): chapters 27–29 (mineral fuels, chemicals), 38–40 (misc chemicals, plastics, rubber), 48–49 (paper, printed matter) and 56 (wadding, felt, nonwovens).
Goods in neither list escape the measures — unless packed in a container or consignment with targeted goods, which pulls the whole consignment in.
What "mandatory treatment" means
Target high risk goods must be treated by a provider listed as approved on DAFF's register (regulated under the AusTreat scheme). Certificates from suspended or unregistered providers are worthless at the border. Accepted treatments include:
- Heat treatment — 56°C+ at the core for 30 minutes
- Methyl bromide fumigation
- Sulfuryl fluoride fumigation
- Ethyl formate — added as an offshore option from the 2025–26 season
The outcome for untreated goods depends entirely on how they shipped:
| Shipping mode | If untreated on arrival |
|---|---|
| Sealed container (FCL/FCX) | Directed for onshore treatment — expect delays and treatment fees |
| LCL / FAK | Managed at container level before deconsolidation (SP HOLD + Master Consolidator declaration) |
| Break bulk, flat rack, open top | Denied discharge or directed for export — onshore treatment NOT permitted |
| Air freight from USA or China | Random inspections; treatment not required |
| Iso-tanks, bulk-in-hold | Not subject to the measures |
Modified containers (generator housings, portable accommodation) count as break bulk. The break bulk rule is the harshest in the system — a single untreated machine on a flat rack can be sent straight back.
Exemptions & alternative pathways
- NUFT (New, Unused and Not Field-Tested): goods in chapters 82, 84–89 manufactured on or after 1 December can be exempt from mandatory treatment with a NUFT declaration and supporting evidence.
- Unaccompanied personal effects: household goods under ABF form B534 declared under concessional tariff item 99 are exempt — but vehicles and motorbikes requiring a Full Import Declaration are not.
- Full kegs (beer, kombucha) with a manufacturer's declaration are released without intervention.
- Safeguarding Arrangements Scheme: an approved alternative clearance pathway for target high risk goods arriving in sealed six-hard-sided sea containers — worth it for repeat importers with robust supply-chain hygiene.
- Sealing declarations can cover FCL/FCX containers sealed before 1 September, or sealed within 120 hours of offshore treatment.
Practical playbook for September–April
- Screen every purchase order against the target country and chapter lists before signing — a €2,000 Italian machine can carry a four-figure treatment bill.
- Book offshore treatment with an approved provider at origin; onshore treatment slots are scarce and storage accrues while you wait.
- Make sure the treatment certificate names match the Bill of Lading and your packing declaration.
- If shipping break bulk: treat offshore or don't ship — there is no second chance on arrival.
- Importing cars, bikes or machinery from the US, Europe or Japan? Read this alongside the vehicles guide and the biosecurity & BICON guide.
BMSB measures sit on top of normal biosecurity conditions in BICON — passing one doesn't clear the other.