The Australian Prawn Farmers Association (APFA) and the Australian Council of Prawn Fisheries (ACPF) have warned that proposed Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry guidelines would dangerously weaken Australia’s biosecurity by slashing border testing for imported raw prawns.
The APFA and the ACPF said that, under the changes, exporting countries such as India, Thailand and Vietnam — where white spot disease (WSD) is present — could have their own pre-export testing systems recognised as “equivalent”, triggering a shift away from Australia’s current 100 per cent on-arrival testing.
"This represents a step backwards toward the weak settings that preceded the 2016 white spot disaster," APFA Executive Officer Kim Hooper said. "Biosecurity failures cost real livelihoods. We cannot repeat that experience."
The ACPF said the proposed rules treat imported prawns more leniently than any other raw animal protein.
"No other edible animal protein is eligible for this vague ‘risk-based’ testing with no set frequency and unclear action to detect failed consignments once they're in the market," said ACPF Executive Officer Rachel King. "This is a reckless move."
Both the ACPF and the APFA said Australia has already seen the consequences of weak import controls. The 2016-17 WSD outbreak devastated Queensland prawn farms. Prawn fishers in Southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales remain banned from selling raw prawns after the virus carried on imported prawns was detected in their waters.
"Relaxing these rules is not only a slap in the face to SE Qld prawn fishers who have been locked in since 2016 but poses a risk to Australia’s pristine aquatic ecosystem such as our neighbouring Great Barrier Reef," said David Bobberman of the Queensland Seafood Industry Association.
The two organisations said that although post-2016 protocols require imported prawns to stay in original packaging with mandatory warning labels, retail enforcement has been poor, with thawed repackaged product frequently sold without required labels. Testing at retail happens as seldom as once every two years.
"Instead of fixing known gaps in the system, the government is proposing to weaken it further in favour of importers," the ACPF said. "This exposes farms, wild fisheries and coastal communities to the same risks that caused previous outbreaks."
The APFA and the ACPF have therefore called on the government to: halt implementation of the new guidelines; maintain 100 per cent on-arrival testing for uncooked prawns grown in any country not demonstrably disease-free; and enforce existing rules at retail, where compliance routinely fails.
"Some trades simply aren’t worth the cost," the organisations said. "The government must reverse this dangerous decision to relax testing at the border and finally enforce the rules it already has."