Biosecurity Bite

Every day Australia imports and exports plants and plant products. Imported products may carry serious plant pests and diseases. Our biosecurity system involves a series of measures that protect Australia from the entry and spread of pests and diseases.

We work closely with our farmers and exporters to find new export opportunities for their plants and plant products. Other countries are also doing this for their farmers. For another country to send a product to Australia, they must first submit a market access request, also known as an import proposal.

Before a plant or plant product can be imported to Australia we must determine if it is safe to do so. We do this by assessing the biosecurity risks of the plant or plant product. For some plants and plant products, the risk assessment may be in the form of an import risk analysis.

You can view our current and finalised plant risk analyses.

Once we have assessed the biosecurity risk of importing a certain type of plant or plant product, the department sets import conditions that must be met before the products can be imported to Australia. These conditions are published in our Biosecurity Import Conditions system (BICON). At the border we inspect imported plants and plant products and check attached documents to make sure the import complies with our conditions.

Find out more about importing plants and plant products.

New plant pests and diseases that arrive in Australia from overseas are known as exotic plant pests. Some plant pests can spread quickly over long distances and cause serious damage. To help us stop the spread we need to know as soon as possible that an exotic plant pest has entered Australia. Everyone has a role in doing this, so if you see anything unusual report it.

Just as we expect imports to meet our import conditions, we also need to make sure our exports meet the conditions set by the countries we are exporting to. The department assists exporters with exporting plants and plant products. For more information about the import conditions set by other countries, visit the Micor website.

You can help protect Australia by being biosecurity aware.

To help keep our agricultural industries and unique environment safe:

• buy or source your seeds, plants, and fertiliser from trusted suppliers
• check BICON if you plan to bring anything into Australia, including online purchases
• don’t plant produce (fruit, vegetables, and seed of spices and herbs) that you bought to eat
• report any unusual plant diseases or pests by calling the Exotic Plant Pest hotline 1800 084 881.

To find out more about how you can play your part, visit biosecurity matters.