Australian quarantine in peril

Australia's wonderful status as a quarantine-protected 
producer of disease-free fruit, vegetables and meat is about to 
be dumped. The Howard Government intends to scrap our historical 
reliance on quarantine entry restrictions in favour of a system 
of simple assurances from other countries that their produce does 
not come from disease-affected areas.

The $400 million banana industry, the pear and apple industries 
are at stake, as well as the pig meat and other primary 
industries.

Moves to scrap the quarantine system were signalled in the 
proposed Free Trade Agreement with the US, with regard to which 
the Howard Government reassured the nation that: "Australia's 
quarantine and food safety regimes, which ensure our health and 
our environment are protected, are not affected by the 
Agreement".

However, an official US Trade Department memo states that 
Australia is committed to "working with the US in the ongoing WTO 
negotiations on agriculture to develop export competition 
disciplines that eliminate restrictions on the right of entities 
to export".

But the Howard Government isn't even waiting for the Australian 
or US parliaments to ratify the Free Trade Agreement. Biosecurity 
Australia, the agency overseeing quarantine matters for the 
Australian Government, commissioned a report that recommended 
that the present system of quarantine inspections at entry points 
be scrapped for fruit, vegetables and meat. In its place was to 
be a system of assurances from other countries that the produce 
they propose to introduce into Australia does not emanate from 
areas where diseases affecting the produce are prevalent.

The proposal has been condemned by the Commonwealth Scientific 
and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), as being clearly 
inadequate to protect Australia from the introduction of disease 
and pests. 

Interviewed on ABC TV, a representative of Biosecurity Australia 
dismissed the CSIRO criticisms with the comment that the standard 
of protection advocated by the CSIRO would block the course of 
trade in fruit and pig meat between countries.

She ignored the obvious implication that although the standards 
advocated by CSIRO would actually block the import of certain 
items, it would not prevent their export from Australia to other 
countries. In short, the CSIRO is warning that we risk 
irreparably damaging certain industries if we abandon the 
traditional quarantine regulations.

The relaxation of quarantine laws as advocated by Biosecurity 
Australia has already been tried and thoroughly discredited. As 
Democrat Senator John Cherry noted recently, with regard to the 
fruit disease Moko:

"Eighteen months ago Biosecurity Australia concluded that Moko 
disease is very likely to be present on fruit harvested for 
export from the Philippines and that imports should not be 
allowed. Yet today, despite no new scientific evidence the 
government will accept Filipino assurances that bananas will only 
be sourced from 'disease free' plantations.

"Anyone who believes that such a weak protocol will keep Moko out 
of Australia needs their head read. If Moko gets into Australia, 
it will be devastating for our $400 million banana industry, and 
will harm our clean export reputation. 

"On apples and pears, the Senate exposed the flawed processes 
used by Biosecurity Australia in assessing the risk of Fire 
Blight from New Zealand apple imports in 2001." 

On learning of the government's move to scrap the quarantine 
procedures, Federal Independent MP Bob Katter commented: "To do 
this on top of the decision to leave sugar out of the (FTA) deal 
seems to me to be a determination to commit political harikiri".

Let's hope he's right.