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    Our biosecurity system helps protects us. Everyone has a role in supporting our biosecurity system.

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Department of Agriculture

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  1. Home
  2. Biosecurity and trade
  3. Pacific engagement
  4. Australia’s biosecurity system

Sidebar first - Biosecurity

  • Biosecurity and trade
    • Biosecurity
      • Coronavirus
        • Food and agriculture
        • Exports
        • Imports
        • Domestic animals
      • Pacific engagement
        • Exporting to Australia from the Pacific
        • Working together with our Pacific neighbours
        • Australia's biosecurity system
        • Inside the department
          • Meet the team
        • Your local authority
      • Commonwealth Biosecurity 2030
      • Agricultural Competitiveness White Paper-Biosecurity Surveillance and Analysis
        • Improving biosecurity surveillance and analysis
        • Forum Communique-July 2017
        • Australian Livestock Industry Health Studies
      • Onshore Biosecurity Levy
      • Biosecurity Matters
        • Gardening
        • Farming
        • Domestic travel
        • International travel
        • Online shopping
        • Recreational fishing
        • Bushwalking
        • Owning pets
        • Boat owner
        • Long distance driver
      • Committees and partnerships
        • Biosecurity Futures group
        • Industry Consultative committees
        • International Cargo Cooperative Biosecurity Arrangement
        • Australian Fumigation Accreditation Scheme
        • National Biosecurity Committee
          • National Biosecurity Forum
            • Previous forums
          • National Biosecurity Emergency Preparedness Expert Group
          • Sheep and Goat Traceability Task Force
          • State and territory biosecurity roundtables
          • Intergovernmental Agreement on Biosecurity
            • Intergovernmental Agreement on Biosecurity Review
              • Intergovernmental Agreement on Biosecurity Review Discussion Paper
              • Intergovernmental Agreement on Biosecurity Review Draft Report
              • Intergovernmental Agreement on Biosecurity Review Final Report
              • AGMIN Joint Statement
              • Response from agriculture ministers
                • Property Identification Reforms
            • National Surveillance and Diagnostics Framework
            • National Transition Program Policy Framework
            • National Biosecurity Engagement and Communication Framework
            • National Framework for the Management of Established Pests and Diseases of National Significance
          • National Biosecurity Response Team Arrangements 2017-2019
          • National Environment and Community Biosecurity Research, Development and Extension Strategy 2021-26
          • National RD&E Priorities for Invasive Plants and Animals 2016-2020
          • NBC Membership List
        • Northern Australia Biosecurity Framework
          • Northern Australia Biosecurity Framework Reference Group
        • Partnerships in biosecurity
          • MOU Agriculture and Health
        • National Biosecurity Statement
          • Communication and Engagement Strategy
      • Aircraft, vessels and military
        • Aircraft
          • Aircraft disinsection
            • Aircraft Disinsection Information (ADI) and Import Relationship and Access Manager (iRAM)
            • Aircraft Disinsection Information (ADI) and Import Relationship and Access Manager (iRAM) support
            • Aircraft disinsection procedures for flights into Australia and New Zealand
          • Aircraft application form
          • Arrangements for aircraft invoking sovereign immunity
          • Guidelines for airline and aircraft operators arriving in Australian territory
          • Landing places determined as first points of entry for aircraft
        • Vessels
          • Australian registered vessels
          • Biosecurity legislation and the Australian territory
          • Cabotage cargo (fertiliser, grain and stockfeed)
          • Commercial vessel biosecurity reporting
            • Crew change
            • Routine vessel inspections
            • Ship sanitation certification
            • Coastal status or coastal stripping of commercial vessels
          • Vessels arriving at first points of entry or non-first points of entry
            • Alternative biosecurity entry point application form
            • First points of entry – information for arriving vessels and goods
            • First points of entry - seaport operator requirements
          • Human health
            • Crew change
            • Pratique
          • Marine pest biosecurity
            • Ballast Water
              • Australian Ballast Water Management Requirements
              • Ballast Water Authorisation
            • Biofouling
              • Anti-fouling and in-water cleaning guidelines
                • General recommendations
              • Biofouling management requirements
              • Consultation Regulation Impact Statement
                • Consultation Regulation Impact Statement, 2011
          • Maritime and Aircraft Reporting System (MARS)
            • MARS communications and training materials
            • MARS offline forms
          • Non-commercial vessels
            • Accredited suppliers list for termite detection services
            • Importing vessels with timber components frequently asked questions
            • Importing vessels with timber components
          • Offshore installations
            • Offshore Installations Biosecurity Guide
          • Plants and insects
            • Burnt pine longicorn beetle - person in charge questionnaire and statement
          • Pre-arrival reporting for certain Australian External Territories
          • Reportable biosecurity incidents
        • Military
          • Australian Defence Force
            • Cleaning instructions - Personal equipment
          • Visiting military
            • Essential biosecurity information for military forces
            • Foreign government vessels invoking sovereign immunity
          • Cleaning requirements
          • Military frequently asked questions
          • Military vessels
          • Offshore inspections of military equipment
          • Ration packs
        • Transhipping through Australia
          • Transhipped ship’s stores lodgement cover sheet
      • Biosecurity in Australia
        • Biosecurity Advanced Analytics Capability
        • Detector dogs
        • Innovative Biosecurity 3D X-ray Project
        • Modernising Australia’s approach to managing established pests and diseases of national significance: Discussion paper
        • Northern biosecurity
          • Aquatic pest biosecurity community awareness
          • Biosecurity Business Grants Program
          • Ranger Capability Building Grants Program
          • Biosecurity-it’s everyone’s business virtual reality experience
          • Country Handle with Care - Costa and dirtgirl Tackle Biosecurity
          • Frontline-northern biosecurity’s community song
          • Frontline Ranger Newsletter
          • Rabies Awareness-Keep a Top Watch! in your community animation
          • Report a pest, weed or disease in Northern Australia
          • You can be a Biosecurity Champion too!
            • Developing industry and supporting local growers
        • Northern Australia Biosecurity Strategy 2030
        • Northern Australia Quarantine Strategy (NAQS)
          • Co-operative biosecurity in northern Australia
          • Aircraft arriving on the Australian mainland from Torres Strait
          • NAQS target pests, diseases and weeds
          • Moving goods to, from and within Torres Strait
          • Significant events in the history of NAQs
            • Celebrating 30 years of co-operative biosecurity in northern Australia
            • Commemorating 25 years of NAQS
          • Shipping and yachting in the Torres Strait
          • Map of NAQS zones
        • Public awareness and education
          • Australian biosecurity webinar series
          • Australian Biosecurity Awards
            • Current Australian Biosecurity Award recipients
            • Past Australian Biosecurity Award recipients
          • Be a Junior Biosecurity Officer
        • Reform of the biosecurity system
          • Biosecurity Training Centre
          • Industry Partnerships and Engagement
        • Reports and publications
          • 2008-12 Imported cargo processing, a DAFF time release study
          • Biosecurity Matters Newsletter
          • Australian Quarantine a shared responsibility: The Nairn report
            • Australian Quarantine a shared responsibility: The Government response
        • Pest and disease surveillance at Australia’s borders
        • Torres Strait and Northern Peninsula Area Biosecurity Strategy
      • Biosecurity research and innovation
        • Biosecurity Innovation Program
          • Apply now
        • How we work with you
        • Centre of Excellence for Biosecurity Risk Analysis
        • Innovation Ideas initiative
        • Innovation Pilots Initiative
      • Biosecurity Innovation Exchange 2018
      • Biosecurity risk analysis
        • Import proposals
        • Conducting a biosecurity risk analysis
          • Appropriate Level of Protection
          • Final Biosecurity Import Risk Analysis report checklist
          • Australia’s international biosecurity obligations
          • Roles and responsibilities in a Biosecurity Import Risk Analysis
          • Scientific Advisory Group
        • Animal import risk analyses
          • Cooked turkey meat from the United States
            • Cooked turkey meat from the United States - Commencement of a review
          • Cooked duck meat from Thailand
          • Dairy products for human consumption
          • Fish and fish products for use as pet food and stockfeed
          • Hatching eggs of poultry
          • Import of live sturgeon for aquaculture
          • Natural sausage casings
          • Psittacine birds
          • Review of prawns and prawn products
            • Submissions received on the Review of prawns and prawn products – draft report
            • submissions
          • Zoo bovids from approved countries
        • Plant risk analyses
          • Plant commodity/country and pest risk analyses
          • How we conduct a plant risk analysis
          • Apples from USA (2018)
          • Cut flowers and foliage
          • Dragon fruit from the Philippines
          • Limes from Mexico
          • Okra from India
          • Oriental melon and rockmelon fruit from Korea
          • Passionfruit from Vietnam
          • Potatoes from New Zealand
          • Xylella bacterial pathogens
        • Group pest risk analyses
          • Group pest risk analysis for scale insects
            • Draft report fact sheet
          • Group pest risk analysis for thrips and orthotospoviruses
            • Draft report
            • Fact sheet
            • Final report
          • Group pest risk analysis for mealybugs
            • Draft report
            • Draft report fact sheet
            • Final report
            • Final report fact sheet
        • Biological control agents
          • Risk analyses
            • Completed Risk Analyses
            • Current Risk Analyses
          • Host test lists
          • Protocol for biological control agents
        • Weed assessments
          • Development of the Weed Risk Assessment system
          • Weed risk assessments frequently asked questions
          • Reasons for the Weed Risk Assessment system
          • The Weed Risk Assessment process
            • Weed Risk Assessment system
        • Biosecurity Import Risk Analysis guidelines
        • Centre of excellence for biosecurity risk analysis
        • Biosecurity advices
        • Register as a stakeholder
      • Emergency preparedness and outbreak response
        • Exercises
        • National Environmental Biosecurity Response Agreement review
          • NBC approach to the NEBRA five year review recommendations
        • Horse Disease Response Levy review
        • Wildlife Exotic Disease Preparedness Program
          • Feral animals as hosts of exotic disease: Identification of potential disease contact between feral animals and sites of exotic disease incursion
          • Avian Influenza Viruses in Migratory Shorebirds and Nomadic Water Fowl in South Australia
          • Avian Migration and Movement pathogens in the Australo-Papuan context
          • AWHN OIE Report 2004
          • AWHN OIE Report 2005
          • Destroy and Let Lie Disposal Project
          • Development and Validation - Newcastle Disease
          • Field Surveillance and Monitoring - Leishmania in the Northern Territory
          • Final report: preparing Australia by preparing Papua New Guinea
          • GIS Mapping Software in National Surveillance Database
          • Identifying and Mapping Hendra virus
          • Identifying and Mapping Hendra Virus (2)
          • Identifying and Mapping Hendra Virus Strain Diversity (Stage 1)
          • Improving the Relevance and Efficiency of Wild Bird Surveillance for AI
          • Reservoirs of Infection: The Epidemiological Characteristics of an Emerging Pathogen
          • Summary Report - Contraceptives Pigs
          • Summary Report - pigs disease spread
      • Animal
      • Plant
      • Pests, diseases and weeds
      • Environmental biosecurity
        • Chief Environmental Biosecurity Officer
        • Environmental Biosecurity Framework
        • Environmental biosecurity stakeholder engagement
        • Priority list of exotic pests, weeds and diseases
        • The Environmental Biosecurity Project Fund
      • Biosecurity questions and answers
      • Legislation
        • List of Biosecurity Preparedness Plans
        • List of Goods That May Carry Hitchhiker Pests
        • The Biosecurity Act 2015
          • Changes to import requirements
          • Introduction to the Biosecurity Act Interactive Learning tool
          • Reviewable decisions
        • Reportable biosecurity incidents
          • Reportable biosecurity incidents form
        • Compliance and enforcement
          • Biosecurity Compliance Plan 2016-17
          • Biosecurity Compliance Statement
          • Compliance and enforcement tools
          • Redline - report a biosecurity breach
          • Export and import laws and the role of the department
          • Infringement Notice Scheme
      • Fees and charges
      • Forms

Australia’s biosecurity system

Invasive pests and diseases can cause crops to fail and livestock to die. This can destroy peoples’ livelihoods.

Australia has a rigorous biosecurity system. It protects our country, countries in our region and countries we trade with.

To prevent pests and diseases from entering Australia, we:

  • identify the risks of importing different types of goods and commodities
  • screen incoming items at our borders by using x-ray machines and detector dogs
  • quarantine or treat plants and animals, both before and after they enter Australia
  • set up surveillance programs
  • invest in research
  • share our knowledge through our international partnerships.

We must work together to prevent outbreaks from occurring. Otherwise Australia will become a host for pests and disease. This can put other countries at risk.

Risk analysis

We receive many requests to allow new products to be imported in Australia. Like other countries, we need to consider how big the risk is of a pest or disease entering with that product.

To understand the risk, our scientific experts consider:

  • pests associated with the product
  • if the product is fresh or processed
  • how fresh products are packed and prepared for export
  • which country is the product coming from.

All requests undergo a risk analysis, no matter which country the request is from.

It takes time to thoroughly analyse the risk. Australia receives many hundreds of requests each year. Other countries use a similar approach when assessing requests from Australia to import products.

As part of this analysis, our experts set out import conditions the product must meet before it can enter Australia. These conditions may include treatments like fumigation or quarantine.

These conditions are published on our Biosecurity Import Conditions system (BICON).

You can check if the product you want to import is permitted and the conditions by visiting BICON.

Border screenings

When a product arrives in Australia, we check that it meets our conditions and is free from serious pests.

We check documents such as import permits or phytosanitary (plant health) certificates. This certificate is an official government-to-government document. It states the plant product meets our conditions.

We inspect the product and packaging to check for any unwanted plant parts, dirt, insects and diseases. These are known as biosecurity risk material. If the product doesn’t meet our conditions, it will be treated, exported or destroyed.

We will release the product if we find:

  • it free of biosecurity risk material
  • all documents are correct.

Quarantine

A plant or animal may need to be placed in one of our quarantine facilities for a specified time. This will be set out in the import conditions.

By holding animals and plants in a quarantine border facility, we can be certain the plant or animal is healthy before it is moved around the country.

Plants or animals may also be placed in one of our quarantine facilities if we find something of concern during one of our routine border screenings. If this happens, we will notify the owner and hold the item until the risk can be identified and addressed.

Surveillance

Our experts and producers regularly check our crops and livestock for any signs of pest or disease.

We also check areas where shipping containers are stored and the facilities at our ports and borders. This helps us detect any pests that may have hitched a ride in a container.

If there is an outbreak, our response teams develop targeted surveillance programs. These help us understand how widespread the outbreak is and effective our response actions are.

Research

Australia invests in research to:

  • increase our understanding of plant pests and diseases
  • identify effective treatments if a detection is made.

Our researchers work with other researchers around the world. They find out more about the worst pest and disease threats to food production and the environment.

International partnerships

We share our knowledge with experts in other countries through our international partnerships. We help our partners to improve surveillance, strengthen outbreak responses, deepen their understanding of biosecurity, and increase market access.

These partnerships may be recognised in a memorandum of understanding, such as our agreement to support PHAMA Plus.

Find out more about Australia’s biosecurity system.

Pacific Engagement
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Last updated: 21 December 2022

© Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of country throughout Australia and recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and culture. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.