Australian Quarantine Review Secretariat Australian Quarantine a shared responsibility

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10.5 CONTINGENCY PLANS

Many submissions to the Review argued that there is a need for more emphasis on developing contingency plans for incursions of exotic pests and diseases of animals and plants. Several submissions — including those of the National Farmers' Federation, the Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association, and the Tasmanian Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries — argued that they were needed generally. Other submissions argued that they were needed for particular areas or for specific pests or diseases.

10.5.1 Livestock

AUSVETPLAN is the nationally agreed plan for responding to an outbreak — or suspected outbreak — of an exotic pest or disease of animals anywhere in Australia. AUSVETPLAN was developed and agreed by governments, in consultation with industry, to enable a rapid response to any such incursion. Many submissions were complimentary of AUSVETPLAN and generally agreed that AUSVETPLAN provided a very useful model for contingency planning that could be applied to animal pests and diseases not already included (e.g. those affecting aquatic animals). They also generally commented that AUSVETPLAN provided a very useful model for contingency planning that could be applied to plants (including forestry). However, a few submissions suggested that even AUSVETPLAN contingency plans were not as well-developed as they should be. For example, the Australian Academy of Science argued that contingency plans 'must be based on a thorough use of all relevant data and methodology. This should include population ecology of potential hosts and epidemiology of the target species, ecological modelling and game theory, leading to explicit risk assessment and realistic contingency plans. Current approved plans fall far short of this'.

The purpose of AUSVETPLAN is to:
· provide a structure for managing an exotic disease emergency;
· provide coherent exotic disease contingency plans;
· provide compatible and uniform operations and procedures between Commonwealth and State animal health authorities and emergency management organisations;
· improve the technical basis for strategies to combat exotic disease incursions;
· identify deficiencies in scientific and technical knowledge required to combat an exotic disease emergency, and establish research priorities; and
· provide a focus for training people in appropriate operational responses and procedures.
AUSVETPLAN provides a comprehensive package that clearly and concisely sets out the roles, responsibilities, coordination arrangements, financial arrangements (where applicable), policies (based on detailed technical support) and procedures that will be followed by all agencies in an exotic animal disease response. It provides a consistent framework for action to be taken for a particular incident across all parts of the country. The critical factors addressed by AUSVETPLAN are:
· coordination of the emergency (disaster) operational management;
· detailed, consistent responses to individual diseases;
· financial arrangements for the sharing of eradication costs for selected diseases;
· adequate and consistent legislation between the Commonwealth and States; and
· a comprehensive emergency management system.

AUSVETPLAN includes the following documents and related diagnostic resources:

· a Summary Document that overviews the whole of AUSVETPLAN;
· Disease Strategies for selected diseases;
· Operational Procedures Manuals, providing a template for field operations such as the humane destruction of animals, decontamination procedures, valuation and compensation;
· Management Manuals, providing the overall structure and arrangements for management of control centres, information systems and laboratory services necessary for an effective response to exotic disease outbreaks; and
· Enterprise Manuals (now being developed) that relate to specific types of enterprises (for example abattoirs) that involve difficult economic or disease eradication issues, or are epidemiologically important in the spread and extent of diseases.
AUSVETPLAN represents the result of many years of work and considerable effort by a large number of writing groups. The Review Committee understands that although various writing groups had been developing contingency plans for some years, it was only after the injection of funds from EXANDIS that the completion of these plans was possible.

10.5.2 Aquatic Animals

Aquatic animal health has recently emerged as a priority for animal health authorities in Australia, with policy issues managed by the Ministerial Council of Forestry, Fisheries and Aquaculture. The Council is supported by a permanent committee, the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture. Several committees advise the Standing Committee on specialist issues and in turn have their own infrastructure of subcommittees, working parties and expert panels that focus on particular areas within each committee's terms of reference. In 1995, the Fish Health Coordinating Group was established, replacing Animal Health Committee's Subcommittee on Fish Health. The Group's first task was to review important exotic diseases of aquatic animals and recommend a system for responding to aquatic animal disease emergencies.

At the same time, quarantine issues relating to aquatic animal diseases and pests were examined in a review of aquatic animal quarantine by a national Working Party that commissioned a major scientific review through the Bureau of Resource Sciences (Humphrey 1995). Subsequently, the National Task Force on Imported Fish and Fish Products was established to review the use of aquatic animals and their products (NTFIFFP 1996). The Review Committee anticipates that Government will consider the National Task Force's report in conjunction with the more general framework and recommendations of this Report.
As part of the development of recommendations by the SCARM Task Force on Incursion Management, an Aquatic Animal Disease Contingency Planning Workshop was held in August 1996 to examine preparedness for and response to incursions of pests and diseases of aquatic animals. The workshop recommended that industry, State and Commonwealth agencies collaborate in the development of communications systems to ensure timely and accurate reporting of diseases from field to State and, when applicable, national information systems. It suggested that the systems might be based on the approach used in the Tasmanian Fish Health Emergency Management Plan. The workshop also examined current preparedness and response arrangements used by the Consultative Committee on Exotic Animal Diseases (CCEAD) for managing incursions of livestock pests and diseases (see Section 10.6.1). It recommended that 'aquatic animal disease emergency management arrangements be included under the CCEAD and AUSVETPLAN arrangements or equivalent' and 'that appropriate modifications be made to these arrangements to enable them to be used in the control of disease in the aquatic environment'. With respect to contingency plans, the workshop recommended 'that funding be urgently sought to establish writing groups to develop generic and enterprise-based plans for the management of aquatic animal disease emergencies'.
The Review Committee anticipates that the recommendations of the Aquatic Animal Disease Contingency Planning Workshop will be considered by the SCARM Task Force on Incursion Management. The Review Committee endorses the approach of managing aquatic animal disease emergencies by CCEAD and developing contingency plans using the approach successfully adopted by AUSVETPLAN. The Review Committee believes that these tasks would be facilitated by having fisheries and aquaculture included as members of AAHC, and supports moves to this effect.

10.5.3 Plants

Knowledge of the major pests and diseases affecting animals (with the exception of aquatic and zoo animals) is greater than that of those affecting plants. There is a greater number of relatively less understood host–pest and host–pathogen combinations to consider for plants than there is for animals. Thus the ability to identify the most likely pest and disease threats to Australia is less for plants than it is for animals. Consequently, the number of pests and diseases for which appropriate preparedness and response strategies need to be developed is greater for plants than for animals. So great is this possible number for plants, that some plant health and quarantine specialists (and some plant industry representatives) argued that there is little or no point in attempting to develop preparedness strategies such as contingency plans for plants.

However, many submissions to the Review argued that there was a need to develop more contingency plans for specific plant pests and diseases of concern. This view was put by groups as diverse in interests as the Australian Academy of Science, the Western Australian Farmers Federation, Canberra Consumers and the Australian Banana Growers' Council. For example, the submission from the Australian Banana Growers' Council recommended that 'much greater attention be given to contingency planning for target species'. Other submissions argued that a more generic contingency plan for pests and diseases of plants was appropriate and feasible. This view was put by groups including Agriculture Western Australia, CSIRO, the Queensland Department of Primary Industries, Primary Industries South Australia, and the Tasmanian Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries. Other submissions also specifically highlighted the need for contingency plans based on pests and diseases of particular crops, or for groups such as weeds and forest pests and diseases.
The Review Committee noted with concern that, in contrast to animals, there appeared to be no coordinated generic contingency plan for exotic pests and diseases of plants. Although a framework for eradicating incursions of some exotic pests and diseases was developed in 1980 (Department of Health 1980), this provided only guidelines and nothing like the detail of AUSVETPLAN, and does not appear to have been further developed. The Review Committee noted that there are a few more detailed contingency plans covering specific exotic pests or diseases of plants — including fireblight, Dutch elm disease, fruit flies and black sigatoka. The Review Committee was particularly encouraged to learn of the preparation of other contingency plans for plant pests and diseases, including melon flies, karnal bunt and Asian gypsy moth.
The Review Committee recognises that AUSVETPLAN contingency plans are the result of many years of work, and required significant injection of funds (via EXANDIS) to develop them. Obviously, developing such plans for a wide range of exotic pests and diseases of plants would take some time and require considerable resources. However, the Review Committee believes that a series of generic plans and a small number of specific plans for major exotic pests and diseases of plants should be developed. The generic plans might be prepared for a particular host or industry (i.e. by developing a plan for exotic pests or diseases of a single host plant or group of plants). Alternatively, they might be prepared according to the type of agent (e.g. insect pests, bacteria, fungi) or their method of spread.
The Review Committee endorses the continued development of contingency plans for major exotic pests and diseases of animals and plants, and acknowledges the current work of both SCARM and AAHC in this area. However, there is a need for leadership to ensure that work on contingency plans is undertaken in a coordinated manner. Given their links with State agencies through SCARM and their roles (as outlined in Sections 9.6.3 and 9.6.4 respectively), the CVO and CPPO are well-placed to take on this leadership role.
Recommendation 100: The Review Committee recommends that the Department of Primary Industries and Energy, through the Chief Veterinary Officer and the Chief Plant Protection Officer, take a leadership role to ensure that appropriate contingency plans are available for major exotic pests and diseases that threaten animals (including aquatic animals), plants (including forestry) and the natural environment.
The Review Committee is firmly of the view that a partnership approach is fundamental to maintaining and improving Australia's animal and plant health status (see Chapter 2). The Review Committee was very impressed with the initiative shown by the banana industry in developing an appropriate contingency plan and working closely with the Queensland Government to develop sound preparedness and response strategies for major pest and disease threats. Such approaches seem to be particularly appropriate for industries that are concentrated in a limited area, allowing producers to cooperate more readily than is possible for more widely distributed industries. The Review Committee believes that industry should be involved in the development of contingency plans to ensure that they are appropriate and feasible. Industry should also have a role in setting priorities for developing such plans, and AAHC and the proposed APHC provide a suitable mechanism for coordinating industry input.
Recommendation 101: The Review Committee recommends that the Australian Animal Health Council and the Australian Plant Health Council take responsibility for coordinating the development of national contingency plans for major exotic pests and diseases that threaten animals (including aquatic animals), plants (including forestry) and the natural environment.

10.5.4 Humans

The Review Committee is aware that the Commonwealth Department of Health and Family Services has been developing a handbook on the management of quarantine diseases for some time (DHFS in prep.). This handbook is effectively a contingency plan for any incursion of a major exotic pest or disease of humans, providing details such as the roles and responsibilities of various agencies, principles and procedures for managing suspected cases, and contact details for relevant authorities. The Review Committee urges the early completion of this handbook, which will ensure that an agreed contingency plan is in place for any incursion of a major exotic pest or disease of humans.

Recommendation 102: The Review Committee recommends that the Commonwealth Department of Health and Family Services complete its handbook on the management of human diseases of quarantine concern.

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