WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
G/SPS/N/AUS/298 
9 July 2012  
 (12-3690) 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
1. Notifying Member:  AUSTRALIA 
If applicable, name of local government involved:    
2. Agency responsible:  Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry 
(DAFF) 
3. Products covered (provide tariff item numbe r(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO;  ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where 
applicable):  General application for people, goods, ve ssels, and aircraft entering Australia 
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable: 
[X] All trading partners   
[ ] Specific regions or countries:    
5. Title of the notified document:  The Biosecurity Bill and Th e Inspector-General of 
Biosecurity Bill  Language(s):  English  Number of pages:  more than 400 pages 
6. Description of content:  The Australian Government is developing new biosecurity 
legislation to replace the century-old Quarantin e Act 1908.  The new biosecurity legislation 
is expected to enable the Australian Government  to continue to manage the risks that could 
arise from the entry, establishment or spread  of pests and diseases into Australia and 
provide transparency and accountability - an d promote good governance and procedural 
fairness. The new legislation is designed to deliver broader, yet simpler provisions that provide flexible powers to efficiently and r esponsively manage biosecurity risks. It is 
designed to focus on responsive regulation enabli ng a system that intervenes where there is 
a biosecurity risk that needs to be mana ged and promotes effective cooperation between 
governments, trading partners, industr y participants and the community. 
The draft legislation is comprised of the Bi osecurity Bill and the Inspector-General of 
Biosecurity Bill (the Bills). The following are some key aspects proposed in  the draft Bills: 
 - importers will experience more appropriate  regulatory intervention, with compliant 
importers subject to fewer inspections while  higher risk activities and behaviours will 
attract increased interventions 
 - Australia's appropriate level of protection w ill continue to be expressed as it currently is 
but will be enshrined in legislation for the first time 
 - the legislation will explicitly outline the roles and responsibilities of the Director of 
Biosecurity and the Minister, clearly demons trating that the political process does not 
interfere with science-based, independent decision-making G/SPS/N/AUS/298 
Page 2  
 
   -  new powers will allow the Australian Govern ment to offer greater support to state and 
territory governments during critical incident pest and disease responses 
 - stakeholders will be able to enter into  approved arrangements to undertake certain 
biosecurity activities cooperatively 
The draft Bills will also be supported by subor dinate legislation, such as regulations. The 
WTO will be notified, in due course, when th e draft subordinate legislation is released.  
7. Objective and rationale:  [ ] food safety , [X] animal health, [X] plant protection, 
[X] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease, [X] protect territory from 
other damage from pests.    
8. Is there a relevant international stan dard?  If so, identify the standard:  
[ ] Codex Alimentarius Commission (e.g.  title or serial number of Codex standard 
or related text)   
[ ] World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) (e.g. Terrestrial or Aquatic 
Animal Health Code, chapter number)    
[ ] International Plant Protection Convention (e.g. ISPM number)    
[X] None 
Does this proposed regulation conform to the relevant international standard?   
 [ ] Yes   [ ] No 
 If no, describe, whenever possible, how and why it deviates from the 
international standard:    
9. Other relevant documents and language (s) in which these are available:  There will be 
a dedicated website at www.biosecurity.g ovspace.gov.au to access the draft Biosecurity 
Bill and the draft Inspector-General of Biosecu rity Bill and the explanatory material which 
accompanies the draft legislation. Th ey will be provided in English. 
10. Proposed date of adoption (dd/mm/yy) :  To be determined. 
Proposed date of publication (dd/mm/yy) :  To be determined. 
11. Proposed date of entry into force:  [ ] Six months from date of publication , and/or  
(dd/mm/yy) :  The legislation is expected to be introd uced into the Australian Parliament in 
the second half of 2012. It is estimated that  the operation of the legislation will commence 
no earlier than August 2013, the exact date is likely to be 12 months after it has received 
Royal Assent. 
[X] Trade facilitating measure    G/SPS/N/AUS/298 
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  12. Final date for comments:  [ ] Sixty days from the date of circulation of the notification 
and/or (dd/mm/yy) :  10 August 2012 
Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [X] National Notification 
Authority, [X] National Enquiry Point.  Address, fax number and e-mail address (if 
available) of other body:   
The Australian SPS Notification Point 
GPO Box 858  
Canberra ACT 2601 Australia Fax:  +(61 2) 6272 3678 E-mail:  sps.contact@daff.gov.au 
13. Texts available from:  [X] National Notification Authority, [X] National Enquiry 
Point.  Address, fax number and e-mail address (if available) of other body:   
The Australian SPS Notification Point  
GPO Box 858  
Canberra ACT 2601 Australia Fax:  +(61 2) 6272 3678 E-mail:  sps.contact@daff.gov.au