News and media

A new legislative framework for agricultural exports commencing from 28 March 2021 will consist of the Export Control Act 2020 and a suite of legislative instruments, the Export Control Rules 2020 (the Rules).

The Rules set out the operational details for regulating the exports of commodities and are based on the existing commodity orders.

This is part of a wider initiative to strengthen Australia’s agricultural exports and market access - and making export processes easier to understand and comply with.

Joint Media release - Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment and Government of South Australia

Water for the environment has helped drive a spectacular increase in lamprey numbers in the Murray-Darling Basin. Lamprey are an ancient, native, eel-like fish that can migrate up to 2000 kilometres between the ocean and the River Murray to breed.

This year marks 10 years of continuous flows to the Coorong since the Millennium Drought broke in 2010.

The iconic Coorong is Storm Boy country, a 140km stretch of estuarine habitat and home to over 80 species of waterbirds and 40 species of fish. Keeping the Murray flowing all the way to the Coorong has been made possible thanks to water for the environment.

Australian Export Meat Industry

Critical government and industry action to modernise the Australian export meat inspection and regulatory system is underway following the $328 million Busting Congestion for Agricultural Exporters measure announced by the Australian Government as part of the 2020/21 Budget. 

There have been mass interceptions of pet supplements at Australia’s international mail centres in recent months.

Head of Biosecurity, Andrew Tongue, said the majority of the supplements were from the same supplier and the products did not meet biosecurity import requirements.

“From 1 June to 13 October 2020, more than 1800 pet supplement products from the same overseas supplier have been intercepted at our mail centres,” Mr Tongue said.

The Australian Government has released guidelines for two new grant programs, as part of its $200 million investment in the recovery of our wildlife and habitats from the devastating impacts of last summer’s bushfires.

The $10 million Bushfire Recovery for Wildlife and Habitat Community Grants Program will support communities to undertake on-ground recovery actions to benefit their local environment.

The final report of the WoolPoll Review delivered by the department today makes 10 recommendations to improve procedures, bolster transparency, and clarify existing roles and responsibilities.

The review found that WoolPoll is an appropriate and contemporary process that provides government with assurance about what wool levy payers want their levy rate to be.

It also found that stakeholders overwhelmingly support WoolPoll as an avenue for wool levy payers to have a say on their levy rate.

A new financial crime guide released today will help businesses to combat Australia’s illegal wildlife trafficking trade by identifying, targeting and reporting suspicious financial activity.

The financial crime guide - developed by AUSTRAC’s public-private partnership the Fintel Alliance with the Department of Agriculture, Water and Environment – draws on intelligence collected from known instances of wildlife trafficking operations.

The department has welcomed the launch of an Australian Food and Grocery Council export guide for Indonesia produced through the Agricultural Trade and Market Access Cooperation (ATMAC) program.

The guide – unveiled today at a virtual AusTrade event - will help our food and beverage exporters learn more about Indonesia’s consumer trends, import compliance requirements and pathways to export.

Indonesia is projected to be the world’s fourth largest economy by 2050, with per person consumption of key commodities like cereals and beef predicted to be greater than China.

As communities across world start their Mid-Autumn Moon Festival celebrations, biosecurity officers will be on the lookout for potentially risky mooncakes at the border.

Head of Biosecurity, Andrew Tongue, has reminded people who send and receive gifts from overseas to consider the biosecurity risks.

“Australia is free from many pests and diseases which are present in other countries—and we want to keep it that way. That is why we have strict biosecurity requirements,” Mr Tongue said.