Biosecurity Victoria

To find out more about DPI's biosecurity and market access programs click on the links below:

Animal Health
Animal Welfare
Chemical Standards
Plant Standards Branch
Plant Diseases and Pests
Transfer of Weeds and Pest Animal Management from DSE to DPI

"Ensuring a safe food chain for growing Victoria's primary industries"

Biosecurity Victoria - PDF Brochure

What is Biosecurity and why is it so important?

Biosecurity is a general description for a set of measures designed to protect a country, state, or individual farming properties from the entry and spread of unwanted animals, pests, diseases and weeds. Biosecurity standards play a crucial role in protecting agricultural industries and retaining market access and market competitiveness (Department of Agriculture, WA - Farmnote no. 71/2002).

Victoria’s reputation for safe clean food drives growth
Victoria has an exceptional global reputation for its safe ‘clean’ food, which has played an important role in the profitable growth of jobs, investments and exports for the State’s agricultural production. The ability to effectively monitor, detect, and respond to animal and plant pest and disease and chemical residue threats has been central to securing this position, giving consumers assurance and confidence in the food they eat.

Emerging market access challenges for Victoria’s primary industries
Today’s fast changing and increasingly demanding market environment creates a number of emerging challenges for Victoria’s primary industries that have the potential to impact on market access. Expanding trade over national and international boundaries, Australia's mobile population, climate change and the spread of globalisation and e-commerce are just some of the trends that increase the risk of exotic diseases being introduced to plants and animals.

There is an increased need to be vigilant in tackling the consequences of these activities, which is evidenced by increasing pressure from overseas pest and disease incidents such as foot and mouth disease (FMD), mad cow disease (BSE), and more recently, avian influenza in Asia. Plant diseases such as wheat streak mosaic virus and karnal bunt are examples of other risks of border incursion from a growing number of potentially significant pests and diseases.

The way chemicals are used to control pest and diseases in food production systems, and the use and treatment of animals can also present trade barriers if market expectations are not met. These challenges, together with the threat of international bio-terrorism against the agriculture and food industries have further increased the need to enhance Victoria’s primary industry biosecurity and market access capability to ensure our reputation for safe clean food is maintained.

Biosecurity Victoria

On 18 June 2004, Agricultural Minister, Bob Cameron announced the formation of a new business group within DPI called 'Biosecurity Victoria' as a vital step in further enhancing Victoria’s ability to effectively respond to pest, disease and chemical residue incidents that are likely to affect our primary industries today and into the future.

Biosecurity Victoria's role is to develop and manage the delivery of the Victorian Government’s biosecurity and market access programs for the livestock, plant, fisheries and forestry industries.

Its functions are to develop and deliver biosecurity initiatives that include:

• Building on Victoria's strong existing capacity within DPI to monitor, detect and respond to animal disease threats;

• Increasing Victoria's capacity to monitor, detect and respond to plant disease and pest threats by developing a role for primary producers and the agribusiness sector in surveillance for major pests and diseases of the agricultural and horticultural industries;

• Developing prevention strategies and identifying combat responsibilities for DPI in the event of a bioterrorism incident in the food processing sector;

• Preparing advance response mechanisms to efficiently deal with biosecurity emergency situations;

• Maintaining control systems for the safe and responsible use of agricultural and veterinary chemicals, fertilisers, stockfoods and genetically modified crops to minimise risks to food safety, human health, trade, the environment and animal welfare;

• Helping reduce trade barriers by promoting ethical animal management, which is increasingly emerging as a trade issue in local and overseas markets, especially Europe;

• Taking an active role in effective collaboration with shared border states on biosecurity issues such as Queensland fruit fly, locust plagues and animal diseases, and:

• Enforcing clean, safe, healthy and ethical agricultural practices through effective legislation, animal welfare and cruelty regulations, chemical standards and compliance.