Biosecurity is critical to ecologically sustainable development, and agricultural and environmental performance. Enduring profitability of the grains sector relies on the contribution Australia’s biosecurity system delivers for economic prosperity and sustainability of the Agriculture sector in growing domestic markets and increasingly competitive export markets.
GrainGrowers Biosecurity Policy
Grains is Australia’s largest plant industry
The diversity and extensiveness of our cropping regions increase the potential to host a range of pests that threaten production and market access.
The control of weeds, pests and diseases already established in Australia costs Australian grain growers over $5 billion each year. This includes the loses and costs of managing diseases at $1.4 billion, weeds and herbicide resistance over $3.3 billion and invertebrate pests over $360 million.
Biosecurity is critical to support agriculture productivity, to protect Australia’s agricultural industries, environment, human health, and social and cultural values and to support international and domestic market access for Australian grains.
GrainGrowers is committed to progressing the national biosecurity agenda and supporting the delivery of biosecurity outcomes that protect Australia’s agricultural sector from pests (pests, weeds and diseases) and build the capability and capacity of the Australian grains biosecurity system.
GrainGrowers supports a shared responsibility of biosecurity, covering growers, industry, governments and the community. Australia’s biosecurity objectives must be delivered through an ongoing process of risk mitigation and promotion of improvements to biosecurity measures, including improvements to surveillance, diagnostics, reporting and management of pests.
GrainGrowers' Biosecurity Policy Principles
- Biosecurity is a shared responsibility and requires coordination across all governments, industry, producers and the broader community
- Maintaining Australia’s resilient and world-leading approach to biosecurity requires continuous research and innovation, and ongoing commitment to prevention and response
- Governments (at all levels) and industry should provide a robust, effective and adequately resourced biosecurity system
- New and existing quality assurance principles should support continual improvement in the management of grains biosecurity
- Management of grains biosecurity is enhanced by bilateral agreements, harmonised legislation and cooperation between industry and government jurisdictions, as well as the community
GrainGrowers believes that to strengthen Australia’s biosecurity system and its function, as it relates to plant industries (specifically grains), should:
- Receive adequate and ongoing resources
- Clearly articulate roles and responsibilities of participants in the national biosecurity system
- Be supported by a national framework developed by the Federal Government in collaboration with industry and state and local government jurisdictions to support organisation and commodity-specific biosecurity plans and best practice
- Be supported by policies, programs and mechanisms that appropriately assess risk, demonstrate biosecurity status, and mitigate unjustifiable trade discrimination
- Be supported by industry and government initiatives that increase resilience of Australian production systems, including surveillance, monitoring and reporting, and support for trade and market access
- Engage proponents at a grass roots level, including citizen scientists