Biosecurity measures ramped up due to Bali FMD detection

By Fiona Lloyd

Jul 7, 2022

Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt.

The Federal Government says it is ramping up biosecurity measures at the Australian border following confirmation from Indonesian authorities that foot and mouth disease had spread to Bali.

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Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said existing strengthened measures included:

Targeted operations at major airports servicing travel from Indonesia to check a wider range of passengers who could be contaminated with FMD or be carrying contaminated goods, and assessment of all passengers on flights from Indonesia, with high risk passengers identified for intervention.
Biosecurity detector dogs in Darwin and Cairns airports.
Additional signage and the distribution of flyers at major airports, informing travellers of FMD risk and precautions.
Expanded social media campaigns, informing travellers of their biosecurity responsibilities.
Additional training of airport biosecurity staff.
Enhancement of mail profiling and inspections.

“Australian biosecurity — and particularly the threat posed by FMD — is a top priority, and high level discussions have been occurring on an ongoing basis, between Australian and Indonesian authorities, as well as with local industry,” Senator Watt said.

“I have received regular briefings about this issue since becoming minister and (on July 5) I sought and received another urgent briefing about the latest developments ... there are also well-established plans in place should FMD be detected in Australia, including an FMD vaccine bank.”

Senator Watt said Australia would support Indonesia in responding to its FMD outbreak by providing vaccines and technical expertise.

National Farmers’ Federation president Fiona Simson said farmers were pleased to see additional measures put in place.

However, Ms Simson said the government should continue to review these settings as the situation evolves.

“We now need the government to continually review whether these measures go far enough, and consider the appropriateness of screening all incoming arrivals from high risk areas,” she said.

“CSIRO modelling shows that if FMD were to arrive in Australia the fallout could be enormous, costing our economy up to $80 billion and damaging our clean, green reputation.

“This threat, as well as the recent incursion of varroa mite in NSW, again highlights our call for a long-term, sustainable biosecurity funding pipeline.”

The Federal Opposition said the measures did not go far enough.

"The government has conceded that their proposal to increase the number of sniffer dogs at airports with incoming Indonesian flights cannot actually directly detect FMD if attached on boots,’’ Shadow Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said.

“There also remains a number of passengers who falsely declare or don’t declare all of their movements, while in Indonesia,” he said.

“The only way to effectively mitigate this vulnerability is to introduce disinfectant foot baths at airports.”

He said the government also needed to expedite the $20 million in Traceability Grants that provided on-farm assistance to farmers for measures like ear tags and a genetics gene bank.

For more information on FMD, visit: www.agriculture.gov.au/footandmouthdisease

By Fiona Lloyd

MMG agricultural editor