WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SPS/GEN/124
15 June 1999
(99-2414)
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Original:  English
QUARANTINE AND OTHER SANITARY AND PHYTOSANITARY
CAPACITY BUILDING AND TRAINING ACTIVITIES
UNDERTAKEN BY AUSTRALIA
Submission by Australia
1. Australia assists regional and sub-regional initiatives where possible to build quarantine
infrastructure capacity, capacity in risk analysis, and to improve awareness of sanitary andphytosanitary issues in general.
(a) Australian Quarantine and Inspection  Service (AQIS) in-house training
2. AQIS organizes training programmes to improve awareness in developing countries of
international standards and their use. It also hosts short term visits from counterpart agencies which
wish to familiarise themselves, for example, with Australian quarantine standards, export certificationagreements and quality management systems.
3. In 1997 two Chinese animal and plant quarantine officials and quarantine officers from Fiji,
Samoa, Myanmar and Malaysia  undertook training with AQIS on quarantine decision making and
import risk analysis. Two Korean plant quarantine officials undertook training in specific areas,
including pest and disease identification and disinfestation treatments for fresh fruits, vegetables andgrains.
4. In mid-1998 AQIS provided training to an Indonesian delegation on specific diagnostic
techniques in animal health, especially in the area of exotic animal disease recognition.
Capacity building activities undertaken by AQIS Training Services
5. AQIS Training Services has undertaken the training of quarantine officers from Pacific Island
countries in plant and animal quarantine legislation and agricultural chemicals legislation, and hasprepared quarantine operational manuals and conducted associated training workshops.
6. Australia also provided training and technical assistance for officers from the Galapagos
Islands (quarantine legislation), Ethiopia (quarantine training in Australia), Iran (quarantine training),
Israel (assistance with technical support in post-entry plant quarantine), Samoa and New Caledonia
(quarantine training for Chief Quarantine Officer), and Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands andVanuatu (quarantine training in Australia).
7. Australia has funded and managed a complete competency-based training programme for the
Tongan Quarantine Service.  The training included clearance of air and sea cargo, ship and yacht
inspection, aircraft clearances, mail clearance, inspection of export and import fresh produce,G/SPS/GEN/124
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fumigation, correct preparation and use of export  documentation, use of the AQIS Quarantine and
Exports Operational Manuals and understanding legislation.
Northern Australia Quarantine Strategy (NAQS)
8. Australia, through AQIS’s NAQS programme continues to provide assistance with the
training of quarantine personnel in both Indonesia and Papua New Guinea as part of our obligations as
a member of the Tripartite Committee on Agricult ural Health and Quarantine (TCAHQ) and as a
signatory to memoranda of understanding with both countries.
9. Collaborative activities carried out by NAQS with Indonesia and PNG include the
development of diagnostic facilities, the exchange of technical information on animal and plant health
status and quarantine methodology, and the conduct of joint pest and disease surveillance and
monitoring activities in the region.
10. NAQS has provided resources and training to assist with the development of diagnostic
facilities, and pest and disease surveillance and monitoring activities in Indonesia and PNG.  NAQS
also funds visits to Australia by Indonesian and PNG veterinary and plant health scientists to
participate in diagnostic training and surveillance activities.
Training conducted through international fora11. Australia jointly funded and conducted the International Course for Masterclass in New
Technologies for Plant Quarantine Management held in Malaysia in October 1998.
12. AQIS was also involved in training, particularly in risk analysis, at the Pacific Plant
Protection Organisation and South Pacific Commission SPS workshop run in Fiji in February 1998,for 22 Pacific Island countries. The Workshop was partly funded by the Australian Government.
13. Funding was provided for an animal disease emergency management evaluation and training
programme in Indonesia in late 1998.  Australia will provide follow-up funding in mid-1999 for the
second phase of the project.
14. Australia funded the first of a series of training modules for Chinese quarantine officials on
bluetongue diagnostic techniques in late 1998 in Kunming.
15. Australia is providing training to the quarantine and animal and plant health services in Irian
Jaya to facilitate efficient and accurate disease diagnosis, and to improve infrastructure.
Australian involvement in APEC animal and plant health activities
16. Australia funds regional and sub-regional initiatives in capacity building in risk analysis.
Some recent initiatives include:
− pilot project on electronic health certification - Thailand and Malaysia;
− quarantine administrative training programme for Chinese officials in the harmonisation of
quarantine standards - APEC Study Centre/Australia;
− as a new member of the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific (NACA), Australia
is participating in the development of technical guidelines on quarantine and health
certification, and the establishment of information systems, for the movement of live aquatic
animals in Asia;
− training to enhance Philippines’ capacity to provide pest risk analyses needed to underpin
market access negotiations for their agricultural  commodities, specifically in relation to the
export of mangoes to Australia;G/SPS/GEN/124
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− an Australian plant quarantine expert undertook a mission to Thailand to assist Thai officials
with the compilation of scientific information necessary for their request for Australian
market access for fresh durian fruit;
− training workshops on import risk analysis for China, Indonesia, Malaysia, PNG, Philippines,
Thailand and Vietnam;
− Australia has prepared a proposal to co nduct a survey for mango pulp weevil in the
Philippines this year;  and
− a specialist training course on disease detection using molecular biology techniques was held
in Indonesia.
Activities of the Australia New Zealand Food Authority (ANZFA)
17. In 1997, ANZFA led delegations to Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Papua New Guinea,
China, Vietnam and the Philippines, resulting in a programme that will contribute to information
exchange and to enhanced expertise and infrastructures underpinning effective food control systems.The programme has a focus on the regional forums of  APEC and AFTA-CER;  the bilateral work with
Vietnam will also provide the basis for similar undertakings elsewhere in the region.
18. Through ANZFA, Australia and New Zealand are assisting Vietnam to develop its draft food
law and an appropriate government infrastructure  for the establishment of a comprehensive food
control system complying with WTO requirements, thereby assisting Vietnam in its bid for accession
to the WTO. This project will be completed at the end of 1999.
19. ANZFA has received funding from both Australia and APEC to:
− conduct two regional workshops (the first in Canberra in August 1999 and the second in
Bangkok in November/December 1999)  to compare and contrast members' regulatory policies
on the food/therapeutics interface;  and
− conduct training of senior food inspectors from developing members in the application of the
principles of risk analysis.
20. ANZFA is also developing a model for coordination between APEC member economies to
enhance the food control systems in the region. This model is being developed for application in
Australia and New Zealand and would support th e development of integrated programmes of
assistance in the area of food control.
21. ANZFA is developing a Regional Directory of Food Trade Contacts as an Australian
contribution to AFTA-CER's efforts to increase access to the requirements applying to trade in foodbetween countries in the region.
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