To show our commitment to keeping foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) out of Australia, we recently hosted meat and livestock industry leaders on a tour around Sydney International Airport.
Industry bodies invited included Australian Pork Limited, Wilmot Cattle Co, Australian Wool Innovation, the Australian Meat Industry Council, and Integrity Systems Company. The tour was co-hosted by Meat & Livestock Australia.
On the action-packed tour, held on a typically busy day for the international airport, leaders from these industry bodies were able to witness the heightened measures and screening in place for all travellers arriving back from Indonesia.
Travellers pass through over 20 biosecurity touchpoints (PDF 937 KB), each a strong defence to make sure FMD doesn't get brought in via unclean shoes and equipment, or illegally imported meat and animal products.
The touchpoints include:
- announcements and handouts to passengers before disembarking
- sanitation foot mats
- passport and Inbound Passenger Card checking
- passenger profiling
- roaming biosecurity officers
- x-ray inspections
- detector dogs
- manual inspections.
Over 5 hours, we took the tour through all of these touchpoints, showing the rigorous work being done to screen all arriving passengers and their luggage. The tour also provided an opportunity for industry to suggest possible measures that could make our defences even stronger.
We're confident that the tour reassured industry we're working hard for them, and all Australians, to keep this devastating livestock disease out.
Don't just take our word for it - watch our new video to see our biosecurity defences against FMD in action, as well as highlights of the tour and interviews with industry leaders.
Video transcript - Biosecurity measures at Australian airports
Biosecurity Officer
Excuse me can I see your declaration card please? Thank you. Question number 6, do you have any meat products at all?
Passenger
No.
Biosecurity Officer
So nothing. No sandwiches, beef, pork, chicken.
Vikki Fischer. Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Biosecurity and Compliance Group
We're fully committed. We've got hundreds of biosecurity officers out here, day in day out. They take great pride in the work that they are doing. They're implementing and maintaining Australia's biosecurity. We are doing everything we can to keep FMD out of the country.
Jason Strong. Meat & Livestock Australia
I think what stood out to me was the importance of multiple touchpoints and having multiple opportunities for people to declare and come clean so to speak. But making sure enough of those things are very visible as well so people have multiple reminders of their obligation and what they should be doing.
Patrick Hutchinson. Australian Meat Industry Council
Look it just gives me further confidence that not only are we just not doing measures because it looks good, or it makes farmers feel better. This is also about a far more experienced process that this not just this airport, but many other airports the Department of Agriculture, DFAT, Border Security and Border Force are going through in order to keep our industry safe from a disease incursion.
John Roberts. Australian Wool Innovation
I was very impressed to see the way they manage people and try and put people through the through the system but obviously not trying to speed them through. They're actually trying to make sure it's actually not just a tick and flick exercise.
Heidi Reid. Australian Pork Limited
It's been fantastic to see both the controls that are already in place and the huge amount of work that's already in place to safeguard industry but see some of those additional measures like the foot mats. As we've seen the risk profile increase off the back of the disease being detected in Indonesia and Bali, you know we're seeing a lot more resources go over into those countries and also Papa New Guinea and Timor-Leste.
Vikki Fischer. Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Biosecurity and Compliance Group
So some of the measures that we've implemented include raising awareness, so for all travellers, they'll be reminded when they leave Australia about the risk of FMD if they're on holiday to Bali. While they're in Bali now we've got communications out at resorts, we've got materials set up at airports as well. When you board the aeroplane and you're coming home you're reminded again, you have Australia's biosecurity video and a lot of our biosecurity video is about keeping FMD out of the country. And when the plane lands, we actually have a biosecurity officer board the plane and remind you once again, remind the traveller once again, that that document that incoming passenger card that you're declaring what you've brought with you is a legal document and you must fully inform us what you're travelling with and where you've been. And passengers are required to walk across mats with a sanitisation fluid to clean their shoes as well and if they are declaring anything, they will also be taken through for a full inspection as well.
Stuart Austin. Wilmot Cattle Co
Certainly I have more confidence in the system now than I had a few hours ago. Recognising the percentage of passengers that are being screened in some form or another is impressive to see for sure. You know there's not many people that have walked out the airport after they picked up their bags here without some form of screening. And again that profiling gives you a lot more confidence in how well or their ability to pick up incursion, potential incursions I suppose.
Jason Strong. Meat & Livestock Australia
I wasn't too concerned about the capability of our biosecurity system and I think the way we should be approaching this is there's this massive increase in awareness and this heightened level of concern but we've got a very good biosecurity system. So I think everybody's doing everything we can but it's also important in the current environment that we every day think about what else can we do?
Jane Weatherley. Integrity Systems Company
The number of dogs that are there was really impressive as well and clearly there, you know, they're trained to be able to pick things up that we normally couldn't, and the efficiency that that creates as well so by you know being able to screen a lot of people in a very short period of time is brilliant.
Vikki Fischer. Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Biosecurity and Compliance Group
I think travellers are doing a fantastic job. Unfortunately, some have come back with products that they shouldn't have and the full force of the law is there and they've received infringement notices and some of them have to pay significant dollar values there, so there's a 12 penalty units that's $2,264 dollars.
John Roberts. Australian Wool Innovation
Be rest assured that there's a very dedicated group of people here who are really professional and treating people with dignity but also making sure they go through a really rigorous process. And my message would be, keep your foot on the pedal, it's critically important, we get this right. And we don't take our eye off the ball. It's really good stuff.
Vikki Fischer. Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Biosecurity and Compliance Group
Thank you for working with us industry and that goes for travellers and airports and tourism sector as well. There is a big thank you. There's always more we can do, we're all responsible here, but the Australian Government is doing everything we can to keep FMD out of the country.
