Australian Quarantine Review Secretariat Australian Quarantine a shared responsibility
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- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- 1. THE REVIEW
GLOSSARY
ACKNOWLEDGMENTSThe Review Committee wishes to thank all those who took the time to lodge written submissions to the Review and to attend public hearings or private meetings, especially those industry bodies and State organisations that committed substantial resources to the consultation process. The high level of assistance provided by the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) is gratefully acknowledged. The Review Committee appreciated the openness with which AQIS supplied information, including substantial supplementary information requested by the Review Committee, and the organisation of briefings and site visits to quarantine operations. The Review Committee also wishes to thank sincerely all AQIS staff, particularly those in the regions, for their frankness and their patience during the course of the Review. The Review Committee acknowledges the generosity shown by officials in Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, and the United States for the significant resources dedicated to discussions and briefings with the Review Committee. The Review Committee also wishes to thank the staff of Australia's Embassies and High Commission in these countries for the assistance provided in organising the visit programs. PART I: INTRODUCTION 1. THE REVIEW1.1 ORIGIN OF THE REVIEWIn the 1990s, worldwide community awareness of the potential effect of pests and diseases has been heightened as the result of incidents such as Ebola virus in Africa and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (or 'mad cow disease') in Europe. Such incidents have resulted in a more cautious and questioning approach by the community to issues related to human, animal and plant health. Between 1990 and 1995, a number of incursions into Australia of exotic pests and diseases, including western flower thrips, papaya fruit fly, Siam weed, chalkbrood, northern Pacific starfish and Japanese encephalitis, attracted considerable media attention. A number of incidents involving endemic pests and diseases, although not quarantine-related, also achieved a high public profile. For example, several children were hospitalised with haemolytic uraemic syndrome after eating contaminated smallgoods, and two people and several horses died from infection with equine morbillivirus. Whether quarantine-related or not, these incidents led some sections of the community to question the adequacy of Australia's quarantine policies and programs, and the technical competence of Australia's quarantine service. At the same time, the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) was seeking to finalise quarantine import conditions for a number of commodities such as cooked chicken meat, fresh salmon and pigmeat. Australian industry held a number of concerns about the pest and disease status of proposed imported products and questioned both the process and the science upon which AQIS was determining import conditions. An inability to reach common ground for deciding issues on scientific merit led to a highly politicised and public debate on proposed entry conditions. This discourse was resource-intensive and time-consuming, and led to a high level of mistrust between the parties, with consequent community concern about Australia's quarantine services. Underlying these events were a number of major developments in world trade and other issues relevant to quarantine policy, including: · conclusion of the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, which enhanced opportunities for international trade in agricultural commodities, and increased the trade expectations of exporting countries; · negotiation of the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, which defined the rights and obligations of members of the World Trade Organization in the development and implementation of food standards and quarantine controls; · the increasing use of the 'clean, green' reputation of food-exporting nations such as Australia as an international marketing tool, in part reflecting increased consumer concern about food safety; · rapid increases in the volume of world trade and international passenger movements, placing heavy pressure on border control measures intended to exclude exotic pests and diseases; and · significant scientific advances in surveillance and identification procedures for plant and animal pests and diseases. This confluence of events, coupled with the recommendation of the most recent major review of Australia's quarantine chaired by Professor David Lindsay that another major review of Australia's quarantine policy be conducted in about 1994 (DPIE 1988), led to the establishment by the former Minister for Primary Industries and Energy, Senator the Hon. Bob Collins, on 14 December 1995, of an independent Committee to review Australia's animal and plant quarantine policies and programs. Continuing Government support for this decision was subsequently affirmed by the incoming Minister for Primary Industries and Energy, the Hon. John Anderson MP, following the general election in March 1996. Mr Anderson also broadened the Review's scientific expertise by appointing a fourth member to the Review Committee. Directory: SiteCollectionDocuments SiteCollectionDocuments -> Emerging Transport Technologies SiteCollectionDocuments -> Lesson Plan What are smart goals? 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