High Risk Pests Found in Imported Cargo
Australia is relatively free from most of the world's serious pests and diseases. Quarantine helps keep it that way. As an island continent Australia was once naturally isolated from most exotic pests and diseases. Global trade and travel, while bringing great benefits, puts Australia's agricultural industries and unique natural environment at risk of devastation from a range of serious pests and diseases. Quarantine aims to protect Australia's natural and economic assets while minimising disruption to the international movement of people and goods. The following are just some examples of the serious pests and diseases which could wreak havoc on Australia's economy and environment if quarantine is breached.
Giant African snail
Growing up to 20 cm long and weighing up to a kilogram, this tropical snail originated in East Africa and was deliberately introduced into new areas as a food source. In areas where they have few natural enemies giant African snails can attack up to 500 different plants including legume crops, ornamental plants, vegetables and the bark of large trees such as citrus and pawpaw.
Giant African snails could enter Australia as eggs or as snails, in empty containers or bags, in soil at the egg stage of their lives, under packing cases, pallets, in or on shipping containers, machinery, motor vehicles or bicycles or as shell souvenirs or food carried by aircraft passengers.
The snail is often intercepted at ports by careful inspection of all imports, steam treatment of vehicles and, if necessary, fumigation of high-risk equipment. Quarantine has so far kept these pests out of Australia.
Asian gypsy moth
Asian gypsy moths could enter Australia on ships, containers and cargo and AQIS inspects ships that are at high risk of transporting egg masses and caterpillars. Asian gypsy moth is a serious pest - its caterpillars feed on the leaves of up to 600 species of trees. Asian gypsy moth has not been found in Australia but in other countries they cause significant damage to trees.
Asian longhorn beetle
The Asian longhorn beetle is a wood-boring forest pest and a serious pest of hardwood trees. The beetle has the potential to devastate Australia's apple and pear plantations and parkland trees, which are predominantly hardwood species. The most probable means of entry of the Asian longhorn beetle is on imported timber and wood used for pallets and packing materials from Asia.
Imported agricultural produce could carry an insect pest called khapra beetle. This beetle would have serious consequences for Australia's grain storage industry and jeopardise our export grain markets. The list of foodstuffs that khapra beetle can destroy is alarming: beans, lentils, dried fruits, desicated coconut, spaghetti, noodles, rice, barley, wheat, bran, sesame and fennel seeds and a range of spices such as cardamom, coriander and cumin.
Unless stringent pre-shipment conditions are met, all containers with exposed infestable agricultural produce imported into Australia from areas where khapra beetle occurs must be unpacked for inspection of the produce.
Foot and mouth disease
Contaminants such as animal manure, blood, soil and feathers could introduce serious animal diseases to Australia. Airborne spread of foot and mouth disease virus can occur and the disease can spread through a herd of cattle within 48 hours. Australia has been free of this highly contagious, wasting disease of cloven-hoofed animals for more than 100 years.
This freedom has allowed Australia to become a world leader in the export of beef, mutton and wool. The virus can be carried by live animals, in meat and meat products, dairy food, on clothes, hair, footwear, soil, bones, untreated hides and equipment. It can survive in frozen, chilled and freeze-dried foods.
Newcastle disease is the most serious of all infectious diseases of birds with no known cure and a death rate as high as 100 per cent. Bird droppings on cargo could introduce this disease. The most deadly form of the disease does not occur in Australia but it is spreading in many other countries.
Where to go for more information
Importers can find out all they need to know about Australia's quarantine import conditions by consulting ICON, AQIS's quarantine import conditions database.
03 May 2010