A Notice of Intention has now been released to undertake a Biosecurity Import Risk Analysis (BIRA) for natural casings for human consumption.
The BIRA will consider scientific information, supply chain arrangements, manufacturing processes and alignment with international standards.
Steps to complete this BIRA
When we do conduct a BIRA, we:
- issue a notice of intention to conduct a BIRA
- publish an issues paper for public comment before preparing a draft report
- publish a draft report for public consultation
- consider all comments received and may consult with the Scientific Advisory Group (SAG) before publishing a provisional report
- provide an option for stakeholders to request the Inspector-General of Biosecurity (IGB) to review the process for conducting the analysis.
- publish the final report
- develop import conditions
- publish import conditions in our Biosecurity Import Conditions System (BICON).
About the issues paper
This issues paper is a required step under the Biosecurity Regulation 2016 Act and is the first major technical consultation in the formal BIRA process. It considers submissions received in response to the previous consultation.
The new is issues paper contains the following sections:
- an overview of Australia’s biosecurity policy framework
- background information on the proposal to assess the effectiveness of salting treatment to manage biosecurity risks associated with natural casings
- an outline of the methods used for identifying and retaining hazards as well as the results of the preliminary hazard identification
- an in-depth review of the scientific evidence available for the retained hazards
- assessment of whether the manufacturing process for natural casings manages the biosecurity risks to an appropriate level of protection.
Make a submission
You are invited to:
- read the issues paper
- submit your feedback
The 30-day consultation period will conclude at 5 pm (AEST) Monday, 10 August 2026.
Submissions should be submitted through the Have Your Say page.
Notice of Intention
9 July 2026
Issues Paper (BIRA)
9 July 2026
Next steps
Submissions received during the public consultation will be considered when composing the draft report. The draft report will contain proposed risk management measures and will be published for comment on our Have Your Say page.
Learn more about why we carry out risk analyses and our international obligations.
Previous public consultation
On 26 November 2024, we released the first issues paper for the importation of natural casings for human consumption. Public submissions for this issues paper closed on 14 March 2025, after a 105-day consultation period on our Have Your Say website.
On 12 February 2025, we hosted a webinar and interested stakeholders were invited to attend and submit questions for response.
Submissions received during both consultation periods were considered in the issues paper developed for the Biosecurity Import Risk Analysis.
The webinar recording can be found below. You can also download a transcript of the presentation and question and answer session.
Previous issues Paper
26 November 2024
- Natural Casings Issues Paper (PDF 383 KB)
- Natural Casings Issues Paper (DOCX 787 KB)
- Response to submissions received from the 2024 issues paper (PDF 347 KB)
- Response to submissions received from the 2024 issues paper (Word 241 KB)
If you have difficulty accessing these files, visit web accessibility for assistance.
Watch webinar
You can also download a transcript of the presentation and question and answer session.
Download
The import risk review for natural casings – issues paper: Webinar transcript (PDF 178 KB)
The import risk review for natural casings – issues paper: Webinar transcript (DOCX 261 MB)
If you have difficulty accessing these files, visit web accessibility for assistance.
Contact us
For more information about this review email Animal Biosecurity.