Kerry O'Brien (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

With salmon, we lost a challenge at the WTO. Whilst we were concerned about the introduction of particular fish diseases with salmon, the Canadians and New Zealanders were all keen to point out that we did not apply the same standards to other products, and we lost that case. Salmon can be imported to this country now, and some is. We have had various propositions put for the importation of pork and they have been resisted by industry on the basis of identifiable animal diseases coming from that product. The position of this government on foot-and-mouth disease remains that, if there is an outbreak which poses a serious risk, we will not allow meat from a country where that outbreak exists to enter this country.

The evidence has been unclear for some time about the chances of introducing BSE by means of the introduction of animal meat. There are parts of an animal that are a greater importation risk than others, and I am not going to touch upon that. Suffice to say that if one can exclude those parts of the animal then the chance of introduction of the material which might carry the disease is reduced. The second thing we know from the science is that if we do not feed animal products to animals then the chance of introducing BSE to animals is basically nonexistent. For the last 13 years we have had a rule applying around the country which prohibits the feeding of animal product or blood and bone, or anything connected to animal waste, to animals such as cows, sheep, goats and the like. The reality is that we have had in place a protocol going back years to effectively minimise any chance of any such disease being introduced.

What are we faced with here? The process which was followed in coming to this decision was full and detailed, and the safety of the Australian people and our food supply, as well as animal health, were utmost considerations. A comprehensive range of meat industry and health stakeholders were consulted. An independent expert, Professor John Mathews—an eminent scientist with 40 years experience who has had a longstanding interest in this issue—provided a report that indicated that the risks to human health of a change in policy were negligible, provided the appropriate risk mitigation strategies were in place. The report was peer reviewed and endorsed by expert scientists under the National Health and Medical Research Council. The three lead departments—Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry; Health and Ageing; and Foreign Affairs and Trade—have worked closely together to ensure that all aspects of the change have been carefully dealt with.

Some questions have arisen as to whether the appropriate risk assessment for beef import purposes will be carried out. Food Standards Australia New Zealand has indicated that it will finalise its protocols before 1 March 2010 and has confirmed it will consult with industry in the development of those protocols. The Red Meat Advisory Council will act as the contact point for those consultations. Food Standards will undertake rigorous assessments, on a country-by-country basis, of countries that wish to export fresh beef products to Australia. In addressing fully the human health issues through the FSANZ food safety risk assessment process, the animal health issues related to BSE will also be appropriately dealt with.

The two ways that BSE could flow to animals are addressed in this process. The first way, through live animal imports, is not an issue because we are not allowing live animal imports into this country—so that is not a way that the disease could be introduced. The second way, through cattle eating fresh beef, as I indicated earlier, will not be an issue either, because no imported beef cuts or bone meal or canned meat are or can be fed to Australian cattle. That ban has existed, as I said, for 13 years. So there is no viable pathway for Australian animals to contact BSE from safe imported fresh beef. Therefore a separate import risk analysis process for animal diseases is not necessary, and that is the reason one has not been carried out. Aside from having met the requirements of a rigorous BSE assessment, any country wishing to export beef to Australia will need to meet all other quarantine requirements related to fresh beef imports, including the strict import conditions for animal diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease. In other words, any arrangements in relation to this BSE matter will not allow a country to skirt around other issues that are raised in relation to the introduction of these—