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Comply with the relevant facility standard

To maintain approval of a transitional or containment facility, it must meet specific requirements outlined in the relevant facility standard.

Find the appropriate facility standard

Note, the post-entry quarantine (PEQ) facility standard was revised in March 2016. Existing PEQ facilities had to comply with the revised standard by 8 March 2017.

Find out more about the revised PEQ facility standard  

Meet Food Act requirements for food-related products

If your facility handles food or food-related products, you will need to meet requirements under the Food Act.

Find out about meeting Food Act requirements

Prepare for regular verification inspections

MPI reviews every approved transitional and containment facility at least once a year. This may be through a pre-arranged visit, an unannounced compliance check, or a desktop check (where a site visit isn't required).

To prepare for your inspection, check that:

  • you have all the correct equipment and it is correctly marked 'Biosecurity use only'
  • your MPI file is up-to-date. It should contain copies of your operating manual, the standard the facility is approved to, and any other relevant documents to confirm compliance with the standard
  • your facility operator has been approved by MPI
  • for TFGEN facilities, the container area (if you receive sea containers) is in good repair, with no cracks, and no vegetation or open drains nearby.

Annual internal audit

Every transitional facility with approval to TFGEN must complete an internal audit at least once a year. This is in addition to MPI verification inspections.

Changing operation of a facility

Facilities are approved to do certain activities and the manual is approved on this basis. Changes to the scope of activities described in your manual must be approved by MPI. You must tell MPI if you plan to change the operation of an existing facility. This includes changing:

  • staff responsibilities
  • the premises
  • the type of uncleared goods.

To change a facility operator, you need to apply to MPI for approval.

Find out how to get approval for a facility operator

Cancelling a facility approval

To cancel part or all of a facility approval, complete the Facility cancellation form and send it to your local inspector.

Facility cancellation form [PDF, 551 KB]

If you have an existing facility and no longer need approval, the operator must notify an MPI inspector who will make sure that any risk goods are dealt with correctly.

Facilities receiving containers

Facilities receiving containers must have one or more trained, accredited person (AP) available to check containers. Accredited persons must have completed and passed a basic container biosecurity awareness course.

Find out about accredited person requirements

Record container checks

An accredited person must record results of all sea container checks on the Container Checks website, even if no contamination is found. If any contamination is found, they should refer to the contamination and packaging charts to check if MPI also needs to be contacted directly.

Container checks

Facilities receiving air containers

Facilities receiving air containers must record the results of all container inspections in an air container log sheet. If any contamination is found, they should enter the inspection into the Container Checks website and refer to the contamination and packaging charts to check if MPI also needs to be contacted directly.

Air container log sheet [DOCX, 327 KB]

Find out more

Importing air containers [PDF, 503 KB]

Importing sea containers [PDF, 982 KB]

100% sea container checks for transitional facilities

Who to contact

If you have questions about facility requirements, email:

MPI business units