Overview
Physical barriers are used to exclude pests at the scale of the packed commodity or consignment.
- Examples include the covering or packaging of the commodity (e.g. with netting or in boxes or pallets) using pest-exclusionary material, and the secure transport of consignments (e.g. in sea containers or trucks).
- Evaluating the efficacy of this measure requires evidence that the physical barrier will effectively exclude the pest. This is typically achieved biologically (e.g. to establish required mesh sizes or commodity segregation requirements under storage conditions).
- Commodities are commonly handled commercially in ways that exclude pests. These practices can be considered when conducting and pest risk assessment. Phytosanitary safeguarding measures can also be required where this is not sufficient.
- Assurance can be achieved through inspection of production system practices and of the packed commodity by authorised personnel, with oversight by the NPPO or relevant authority of the exporting jurisdiction.
Evidence to support efficacy
Evidence is required to demonstrate that physical barriers, as they are applied commercially, will sufficiently exclude pests when the commodity is vulnerable to infestation. This is typically established based on the biology of the pest, for example, by specifying the minimum mesh size for netting in relation to the size of the pest.
Applying the measure
How it is used
Safeguarding measures are widely used where there is a risk of the commodity becoming infested after harvest. The measure can be applied to individual trays, boxes or pallets of the commodity, through to sea containers or temperature-controlled vehicles. It can also include the temporary covering of bulk commodities such as grain during outdoor storage. Standard industry safeguarding practices can be considered when undertaking a pest risk assessment. Safeguarding can also be considered as a phytosanitary measure where commercial practices are not in place or need to be strengthened.
Use with other measures
Safeguarding is a common phytosanitary requirement when a commodity is being transported, processed or stored following a phytosanitary kill treatment or after having been removed from a Pest Free Site or Pest Free Area.
Safeguarding is often combined with segregation and limit exposure time to pest measures to reduce the risk of a commodity becoming infested after production. For example, there may be requirements for a harvested commodity to be transported securely (safeguarding) to a packhouse and packed within 24 hours (limit exposure time to pest) at a time when non-protocol commodities are not present (temporal segregation).
Similar measures
This measure reduces biosecurity risk in the same way as protected facilities and protected units measures, but these differ in the scale at which they are applied. Protected facilities applies to the pest exclusionary structure such as a packing facility, a cold room or a secure laboratory. Protected units are applied to individual units, such as a single piece of fruit.
Safeguarding techniques are similar in practice to post-border secure transport measures (prevent escapes) in the use of physical barriers like netting or tarpaulins to protect the consignment. However, the prevent escape measure is focused on inclusion of the pest in the consignment in the import jurisdiction, whereas safeguarding is focused on preventing infestation occurring following production through exclusion of the pest.
Assurance of correct implementation
For assurance, there may be requirements for inspection of the production and post-production facilities by authorised personnel to ensure compliance, with oversight by the NPPO or relevant authority of the exporting jurisdiction. There may also be requirements for approved types of pest exclusionary packaging, as well as staff training and the development of standard operating procedures. Packaging may be audited during pre-border inspections.