In June the Australian Government announced increased prawn importation requirements, clamping down on importer avoidance in the cooked and breaded, battered and crumbed (BBC) categories. Cooked prawns are to be subject to random seals intact inspections. The Government has proposed that BBC prawns are to be par-cooked from September.
These tightening of prawn import loopholes are welcome.
The 2010 prawn import conditions assumed that imported uncooked prawns would all be cooked once in Australia, so that virtually none would be diverted for bait and berley use in waterways. In its July 2018 submission to the Federal Government, ACPF has demanded protocols that are better than a ‘’third time lucky’’ attempt to tweak a high-risk importation system.
Curbing product format, increasing border surveillance and instigating adequate post-border surveillance are the only appropriate control measures if prawn importation is to continue without damage to the marine environment.
The ACPF provided a submission to the current Import Risk Assessment review being undertaken by Animal Biosecurity Department of Agriculture and Water Resources (DAWR) in early July.
ACPF Submission to “Review of the biosecurity risks of, and import conditions for, prawns and prawn products”