Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2017C00876:reg:5:p2
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2017C00876
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 5 (pt 2/2)
Character Range: 5768–7911

the department's compliance officers in Queensland confirm this has occurred recently and that the prawns being used were found to be WSSV positive.
 (c) WSSV could therefore potentially enter, establish itself, and/or spread in Australia through uncooked prawns imported for human consumption and subsequently used as bait.
 (d) An outbreak of WSD of unknown aetiology has occurred in the Logan River in Queensland. The cause of this outbreak is being further investigated.
 (e) On the basis of the above information I am satisfied that existing import conditions are insufficient to provide the high level of sanitary protection needed to reduce the biosecurity risk presented by WSSV on imported uncooked prawns to a very low level, in accordance with the ALOP for Australia. A temporary suspension of the importation of uncooked prawns will allow for a review of risk management conditions and compliance arrangements and for the results of that review to be implemented.
 (f) Therefore I am making this determination to address the unacceptable level of biosecurity risk associated with importing uncooked prawns from countries other than New Caledonia.

Scope of suspension

 (g) WSSV is endemic in countries that are sources of uncooked prawns for import to Australia. There are many countries exporting to Australia. At this time only New Caledonia is recognised by Australia as free of WSSV. Therefore I have decided to suspend the import of uncooked prawns from all countries other than New Caledonia.
 (h) Crumbed prawns and prawns incorporated into dumplings, samosas and similar products represent a lower level of biosecurity risk, due to the lower likelihood of their being used as bait. Accordingly I have excluded these goods from the scope of the suspension (see paragraphs 7(3)(b) and (c) of this determination).

Period of suspension

 (i) A suspension for a period of 6 months is necessary to analyse the information arising from inspections and investigations, including of the current WSD outbreak and to enable an effective review of import conditions to manage the biosecurity risk in accordance with Australia's ALOP.