Last month we reported that the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) was establishing a rapid response team to tackle delays in assessment, booking and inspection services. Today the ABC says that importers are waiting weeks for fresh produce to be cleared by Australian government officials. (Their full report will go to air this Sunday on Landline).
Fruit is rotting at Australian ports as staff and funding shortfalls delay the import of produce and risk the destruction of crucial trade relationships, importers say.
Joe Saina from the Australian Horticultural Exporters and Importers Association said importers are waiting weeks for fresh produce to be cleared by Australian government officials. “The term crisis is not unrealistic,” Mr Saina said, adding that a wait of three to five days was typically expected.
Fresh produce is inspected for pests, disease and weeds by officials from the Australian DAFF, but there are not enough people to do the job. Australia previously employed inspectors in the United States and New Zealand to inspect fresh food before it was imported, but the former coalition government moved much of that process back to Australia in an attempt to make the system more efficient. This change has increased biosecurity risks and led to the delays.
Importers claim delays can cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. But they wouldn’t speak publicly, fearing their businesses would be subjected to further delays by inspectors.
The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry declined to comment.
Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said he was aware of the concerns raised by importers that extended beyond the fresh produce sector and has asked the department to investigate. “I’ve had everyone from vehicle importers to horticulture industry representatives raise this with me,” he said. “I recently approved the creation of a taskforce within the department to tackle this issue.”
It is not clear when the taskforce will report.
Speaking ahead of next week’s federal budget, Mr Watt has told the ABC more funding for biosecurity is needed. “I think that everyone recognises that our biosecurity system hasn’t kept pace with the risk level that we now face as a country and that is going to require extra funding,” he said.
Importers have joined calls from farmers and exporters for the government to provide long-term biosecurity funding as part of next week’s federal budget.
National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) chief executive Tony Mahar said funding to keep Australia free from pests and disease was not matching the increased risk as more passengers, freight and mail have been arriving. “Our estimations are that the government’s commitment to biosecurity levels, funding and resource allocation has flat-lined,” Mr Mahar said. “In fact, in real terms, [it has] gone down to 0.7 per cent a year.”
The news comes as the federal government has warned that floods in the eastern states will drive up the price of food and as farmers fear an $80-billion wipeout if foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) makes it to Australia.
In northern Australia, the live cattle export trade has slowed drastically since foot-and-mouth disease and lumpy skin disease were detected in Indonesia earlier this year.
Tom Dawkins from the NT Livestock Exporters Association fears devastating animal welfare and trade implications if similar diseases are detected in Australia.
It is a situation that we are now going to face reputational damage with our trading partners because so much of our trade access and our reputation lives and breathes on our disease-free reputation.
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