Page 10 - Australian Pork Newspaper

Keeping African swine fever out of Australia
A timeline of department responses to the spread of ASF
September 14, 2018:
Notification from the European Commission of an outbreak of ASF in wild boar in Belgium.
September 18, 2018:
Changes in import conditions for pig meat and goods with pig ma- terial sourced from Belgium.
The department announces pig meat and goods containing or potentially contaminated with pig material sourced from Belgium are no longer permitted to be imported to Australia. These goods include:
• Uncooked pig meat for human consumption;
• Laboratory goods containing pig material (such as animal fluids and tissues, culture media); and • Pet food containing pig meat from Belgium.
November 2018:
Ongoing spread of ASF overseas.
November 6, 2018:
Revised import conditions for jerky and biltong for personal use.
The department announces jerky and biltong (a product similar to jerky) derived from pig meat brought in for personal use will no longer be permitted entry to Australia.
November 14, 2018:
Changes to the import requirements for baked pig ears.
The department announces that – in addition to requiring an import permit and undergoing significant thermal processing – baked pig ears sourced from countries affected by foot and mouth disease (FMD), classical swine fever, African swine fever and/or swine vesicular dis- ease will now require gamma irradiation to 50k gray upon arrival in Australia. This change applies to all baked pig ears and replaced the condition for pig ears to either be processed in an establishment approved by the department or gamma irradiated on arrival.
December 15, 2018:
Revised import conditions for rawhide chews for pet food.
The department announces conditions for the importation of rawhide chews derived from pig hide or skin have been changed. If treatment and sourcing information is not confirmed in official health certification then the products also require gamma irradiation to 50k gray. In addition, importers of chews derived from bovine material will be required to provide evi- dence that the goods are not made of pig meat.
AFRICAN swine fever is a highly contagious and often fatal viral dis- ease of pigs not present in Australia.
and cargo to reduce the risk of ASF entering Aus- tralia.
by ASF. The department is issuing infringement notices to those travellers who fail to declare or pro- vide false or misleading information about any food, animal products or other risk items they’re carrying. Travellers may also face possible crimi- nal prosecution.
If introduced, ASF would have a serious im- pact on Australia’s pork industry.
The department has also placed a ban on the non-commercial import of high-risk pork prod- ucts.
Humans are not suscep- tible to ASF.
The ban was put in place on November 6, 2018 and applies to prod- ucts for personal use and arrive with international passengers or are sent to Australia in the mail.
Recent outbreaks of ASF in China, Vietnam and parts of Europe in- crease the risk of the dis- ease entering Australia.
The department has tar- geted:
International mail with increased screening and subsequent inspections at international mail cen- tres. The department has also been working direct- ly with importers, postal agencies and overseas senders of international mail, including eCom- merce merchants, to raise awareness about the risk of ASF and reinforce Australia’s biosecurity requirements relating to porcine products. High- risk product intercepted in international mail is seized and destroyed.
This risk was con- firmed by testing of pork products seized at international airports and mail centres.
International travel- lers to Australia, with more inspections of pas- sengers’ carry-on and stowed luggage. New airport signage in Eng- lish and simplified Chi- nese has been installed to alert travellers to the ASF risk. Biosecurity officers are performing manual inspections, looking for contamination on foot- wear and equipment that has been in contact with animals or worn in a rural area in countries affected
Testing revealed a num- ber of these products were contaminated with ASF virus fragments.
This does not necessar- ily mean these products would have caused infec- tion of pigs in Australia.
The Department of Agriculture and Water Resources has increased its screening of passen- gers, international mail
The commercial im- portation of certain pig products to Australia, with tighter restrictions in place on the import of pet food and suspension of meat products from countries that no longer meet the import condi- tions. Commercially im- ported pig meat products must be retorted or cured under very specific con- ditions to inactivate vi- ruses, or be sourced from disease-free countries that have been approved by the department. As an example, following the recent outbreak of ASF in Belgium, the depart- ment suspended trade in uncooked pig meat from this market. Likewise, the department has intro- duced additional controls (such as irradiation treat- ment) for pet treats of porcine origin, including pig ears and rawhide.
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The department contin- ues to monitor the ASF situation abroad and re- sponds accordingly to any change in risk.
To find changes to im- port conditions made by the department in re- sponse to ASF, search the Alerts and Changes sec- tion of BICON at agricul ture.gov.au/bicon
In addition, the depart- ment’s website alerts the public and travellers to the risks associated with ASF and appropriate ac- tions to take or avoid.
To find out more about ASF, including what signs to look for in pigs, visit the department’s webpage at agriculture.gov.au/pests- diseases-weeds/animal/ asf
Page 10 – Australian Pork Newspaper, March 2019
Importantly, if your pigs show signs of ASF or any other unusual dis- ease, report it immedi- ately to your local vet or phone the Emergency Animal Disease Watch Hotline on 1800 675 888, which will connect you with your local animal health authority.
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