Australian Quarantine Review Secretariat Australian Quarantine a shared responsibility

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11 Seaports

The Seaports Program is responsible for the quarantine clearance each year of about 10 000 vessels — plus their crews and passengers — when calling at their first port in Australia. The clearance of cargo from these vessels is dealt with under a separate import clearance program.

All vessels arriving from overseas are required to enter at designated first ports of call unless special permission is obtained to enter elsewhere. There are 60 designated first ports around the Australian coastline. On disembarking, crew members and passengers must complete a Travellers Statement.
Each vessel arriving in Australia for the first time is inspected by AQIS and its details are entered into a computerised risk management system, the Vessel Monitoring System (VMS). If the vessel passes initial inspection without needing remedial work, it is not inspected again until its fourth visit. However, if a vessel fails its initial or any subsequent inspection, it requires three consecutive clear inspections before it is returned to the reduced inspection regime. High risk vessels such as yachts and livestock carriers are inspected at each visit. All AQIS officers have access to VMS and use it to examine the inspection history of any vessel visiting Australian ports.

11.1 Ballast Water

Ballast Water is a sub-program of the seaports program and involves both the development of ballast water management policy and management of related operations. Ships' ballast water has the potential to translocate harmful marine organisms — including human disease agents — into Australia's coastal marine environment from overseas ports and between Australian ports, and the program aims to implement strategies to minimise the risk of such translocations.

11.2 Pratique

All vessels arriving at Australian ports must obtain pratique (health clearance). Pratique is usually granted by a Quarantine Officer after the examination of answers to a questionnaire radioed in by all ships. The questionnaire covers the health of the crew, details of the vessel, presence of any animals on board, previous presence in any port subject to Asian gypsy moth infestation during certain risk periods, and details of the ballast water carried by the vessel.

11.3 Waste Disposal

All waste from overseas vessels is treated as a potential quarantine risk. It must be collected and disposed of in an approved manner — namely incineration, deep burial or heat treatment. Disposal is undertaken by contractors who, in most cases, work under quality assurance arrangements with AQIS.

11.4 Animals on Board Vessels

All animals resident on board vessels (particularly yachts) are subject to strict controls, and their health is monitored regularly. The number of international yachts coming into Australian ports is increasing (reaching some 925–950 in the 1995–96 financial year) with a consequent increase in the threat posed by this form of sea transport.

11.5 Vector Monitoring

Australia implements a WHO mosquito monitoring and breeding program at its ports (International Health Regulations, Article 19). Light traps and carbon dioxide traps are used for detection of adults and water containers are provided for breeding and subsequent identification of larvae.

In relation specifically to Asian gypsy moth, all vessels that have visited a Russian Far East port during certain months within the previous two years and that call at an Australian port with a climate suitable for this moth, must provide a certificate from a competent authority that the vessel is free of eggs of the moth. If this cannot be provided, the vessel is subject to a detailed inspection to ensure it is free from infestation, and a charge is levied for this inspection.

12 Mail Exchanges

The Mail Exchanges Program aims to minimise the risk to human, animal and plant health from the potential introduction of exotic pests and diseases to Australia through the postal system, while facilitating the international movement of mail.

12.1 Screening of International Mail

ACS has 'screeners' located at all international mail exchanges who screen mail based on declarations and intuition, with screening of Letter Class and Other Articles (envelopes and small parcels weighing less than 2 kg) limited to ACS 'target country' lists.

12.2 Private Courier Operations

Australia Post estimates that about 40 private courier companies operate in competition with it on overseas mail operations. The substantial decline in Australia Post receivals of overseas mail is some measure of their market share. Quarantine screening of this material is largely done on the basis of referral of suspect items by ACS.

12.3 Detector Dog Program (Mail Exchanges)

During 1996, a trial was conducted on the use of an 'active' detector dog in the Brisbane mail exchange. This is an 'active' dog, in contrast to the dogs that are trained to be passive for passenger clearance at airports. The trial in Brisbane is proving very successful, with both a high coverage and detection rate. When the handler and detector dog are on duty, all classes of mail are covered. When the trial is completed in late 1996, it is expected that dogs will become a regular operational tool deployed by AQIS in mail exchanges.

13 Quarantine Stations

13.1 Plant Quarantine Stations

Imported plants and seeds that must be grown in post-entry quarantine are covered by two Programs — the Import Clearance Program, which deals with plants quarantined at private quarantine premises, and the Plant Quarantine Stations Program, which deals with plants and seeds that are quarantined at AQIS-funded government quarantine stations.

All plant and seed imports are initially screened as part of the Import Clearance Program, with only those activities performed at government stations being included in the Plant Quarantine Station Program. The latter program is primarily concerned with the post-arrival quarantine and disease testing of high risk plants (including seeds) in government plant quarantine stations.
Apart from the many small private facilities, the State-run plant quarantine stations at Berrimah (Northern Territory), Eagle Farm (Queensland) and Kingston are working under AQIS Approved Quarantine Directives.

13.2 Animal Quarantine Stations

The Animal Quarantine Stations Program comprises the management and operation of government facilities for the quarantine of imported animals after they have arrived in Australia. The examination and testing of animals for the exclusion of exotic diseases, both overseas and in Australia, is included in the Import Clearance Program (see Section 1 of this appendix).

AQIS operates five government post-arrival animal quarantine stations:
· Byford — south of Perth;
· Cocos Islands — 2000 km off the coast of Western Australia;
· Eastern Creek — on the western outskirts of Sydney;
· Spotswood — inner Melbourne; and
· Torrens Island — north of Adelaide.
A pilot program for private sector operation of government facilities — the avian program at Torrens Island — was established on 28 January 1996. Conditions for the use of privately operated offshore quarantine station facilities for importing animals were completed by June 1996.

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