Australia bans travellers from bringing in meat from FMD countries

The rules on what travellers can and cannot bring into the country have changed to protect Australia’s foot and mouth disease-free status.

Australia has banned travellers from bringing in meat products when returning from a country where foot and mouth disease is endemic.

At midnight on Tuesday, federal biosecurity officers enacted the new rules that stop travellers bringing highly processed products into the country such as pate, pork crackling and meat floss.

Border Force personnel have been enforcing the rule since this morning. Picture: Matt Jelonek/Getty Images

These food items were previously allowed for personal use, but Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said on Wednesday the federal government wanted to ramp up protections to keep Australia foot and mouth disease free.

“While Australia remains FMD-free, we must remain vigilant to biosecurity threats from overseas,” Mr Watt said.

“Under existing rules, no animals or animal products are allowed into Australia unless they meet our strict biosecurity requirements.

“When FMD was first detected in Indonesia, the Department of Agriculture tightened the rules for commercial imports of FMD-risk products from Indonesia.

“Then, when the outbreak reached Bali, the Albanese Government moved swiftly to increase the screening of all products arriving from Indonesia via mail.”

But the ongoing spread of foot and mouth and lumpy skin disease across Asia prompted the Department of Agriculture to review the import risk settings, leading to the tightening of restrictions.

The adequacy of the settings in place has been raised repeatedly by senators during meetings of the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee.

The committee will meet again tomorrow to discuss the adequacy of Australia’s biosecurity measures and response preparedness, in particular with respect to foot-and-mouth disease and varroa mite.

Foot and mouth disease is endemic in several parts of Asia, in most of Africa and the Middle East, according to the World Organisation for Animal Health.

Lumpy skin disease has spread from Africa and the Middle East into southeastern Europe, parts of Asia and the Pacific.