Department of Agriculture and Water Resources is seeking comments for Import Conditions Review

The Department’s Animal and Biological Import Assessment Branch (ABIAB) is currently undertaking an Import Conditions Review (ICR) to contribute to the delivery of a key initiative in the Australian Government’s 2015 Agriculture Competitiveness White Paper.

The objective of this project is to ensure the department’s import conditions, associated with animal and biological products, promote efficient processes for the department and clients, and are effective at managing biosecurity risks.

To achieve this we will:

• review import conditions to ensure they are clear, written in plain English, easily accessible, and consistent with policy and legislation
• consider removing the requirement for import permits where practicable
• ensure import conditions are consistent between similar risk commodities
• ensure entry management pathways are clear
• aligning the import conditions with the profiling and referral mechanisms
• develop targeted compliance strategies

The project will not review the science or policies underpinning import conditions.

We are  which will include the following BICON cases:

Live horses, donkeys and mules

We will contact you again and give you the opportunity to provide further feedback on the proposed changes, once they are developed.

If you wish to submit comments regarding live horses, donkeys and mules please provide them via one of the following methods:

Email: [email protected]

Call: 1800 900 090 (Prompt 1, then Prompt 6, & ask for the ABIAB ICR section)

Due to timeframes outlined in the 2015 Agriculture Competitiveness White Paper comments need to be provided by close of business 28^th March 2017.

Responses received after this date may not be included in the review.