Anyone deciding to move fire ant carriers into NSW from the QLD fire ant infested area is required to know whether the premises the fire ant carrier is from (including where it has been made, grown, sourced, packed, stored or held), has been checked for fire ant nests every 12 weeks (at least once prior to the movement).

Areas requiring checking include along edges of waterways, driveways and fence lines, around power poles, gardens, lawns and paddocks where crops are grown, and all areas within 50 m of where the carrier is made, grown, sourced, packed, stored or held. Records of premises checking must be kept  for 4 years by the person responsible for the premises and should be obtained and kept by the person who decides, to support their Record of Movement declaration, to move a fire ant carrier into NSW from the premises.

If you see red imported fire ants in Queensland, report to the National Fire Ant Eradication Program on 13 25 23 or complete the online form at fireants.org.au.

Read the Emergency Order (Clause 14) and understand your duties.

Premises in the QLD fire ant infested area where fire ant carriers are from (including where they are made, grown, sourced, packed, stored or held) must have an insect growth regulator (IGR) treatment regime if fire ants have been found in the last 12 months.

Parts of the premises within 500 m of where the fire ant carrier has been grown, packed, sourced, stored or held are subject to the IGR treatment regime, and at least 8 weeks must have passed since the initial application of insect growth regulator. Records of the treatment must be kept for 4 years.

Anyone deciding to move fire ant carriers into NSW from the QLD fire ant infested area is required to know whether the premises is subject to an IGR treatment regime if fire ants have been found in the last 12 months.

Records of premises treatment must be kept  for 4 years by the person responsible for the premises and should be obtained and kept by the person who decides, to support their Record of Movement declaration, to move a fire ant carrier into NSW from the premises.

An IGR treatment regime is defined in the Emergency Order as the application of an insect growth regulator product containing 5 grams per kilogram of pyriproxyfen or s-methoprene as the active ingredient and that is registered or permitted for the treatment of fire ants by the APVMA. The regime must involve at least 3 applications within a 12-month period in accordance with all label and APVMA permit conditions.

Read the Emergency Order (Clause 15) and understand your duties.

Any fire ant carrier under a controlled movement from the QLD or NSW fire ant infested area or the movement control areas needs to be treated. These treatments may include use of registered insecticides, vigorous disturbance, agitation, heat treatment, freezing, cleaning, covering, off-ground storage or visual checking. Read the Emergency Order and understand your duties.

If you see red imported fire ants in Queensland, report to the National Fire Ant Eradication Program on 13 25 23 or complete the online form at fireants.org.au.

Materials must be covered, stored off the ground or on a treated surface to prevent flying fire ant queens from settling in them.

Preventative conditions are defined in Clause 10 of the Order and include:

• Keeping the carrier material completely covered in either sealed plastic bags, or with sealed plastic wrapping, or covered with tarpaulin, or shade cloth, or insect netting, or inside an enclosed building, and
• High enough off the ground that none of it is touching the ground (may include trailers or benches, not pallets) or
• On hard ground treated with bifenthrin*, or
• On an impervious surface such as concrete or bitumen or heavy plastic where the edges are treated with bifenthrin.

For most carriers, preventative conditions are required immediately after the carrier treatment has been carried out.

Read the Emergency Order (Clause 10) and understand your duties.

If an approved biosecurity certificate is required under the Order, anyone who receives a fire ant carrier as the result of a controlled movement must produce the approved biosecurity certificate that accompanied the fire ant carrier for inspection when requested by an authorised officer and retain the certificate for 4 years. The type of biosecurity certificate required is specified in the Order and may include one of the following:

• Plant Health Certificate (PHC): issued by inspectors from the Queensland Government to applicants wanting to move fire ant carriers into NSW from Queensland. Fees apply.
• Plant Health Assurance Certificate (PHAC): issued under the Interstate Certification Assurance (ICA) Scheme or other Certification Assurance Arrangement.
• BioSecure HACCP Biosecurity Certificate: issued under the BioSecure Hazard Analysis Critical Point (HACCP) industry certification scheme (self-certification).

Read the Emergency Order and understand your duties.

A Record of Movement (RoM) declaration must be made online by the person deciding to move the carrier into NSW. Unless an exemption applies, you must provide details of the movement including vehicle registration numbers, and a copy of the approved biosecurity certificate (if required). A RoM declaration must be made before the fire ant carrier is moved, and a copy retained for 4 years. Use the form here to make a RoM declaration.

Read the Emergency Order (Clause 12) and understand your duties.