EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Issued with the authority of the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.
Quarantine Act 1908
Quarantine Amendment Proclamation 2009 (No. 3)
Legislative Authority
Section 13 of the Quarantine Act 1908 (‘the Act’) provides that the Governor-General may, by proclamation, declare or prohibit a range of matters for the purposes of the Act. These matters include prohibiting the introduction or importation into Australia of any disease or pest or any substance. Matters also include prohibiting the importation of any animals or plants, or parts of animals or plants; any articles or things containing or likely to contain any disease or pest; and any articles or things that are likely, in the Governor-General’s opinion, to introduce, establish or spread any disease or pest.
Subsection 13(2) of the Act provides that the power of prohibition under section 13 of the Act extends to authorise prohibition generally, or as otherwise provided by the instrument authorising the prohibition, including prohibition either absolutely or subject to specified conditions or restrictions. Subsection 13(2A) of the Act provides that a proclamation made under subsection 13(1) of the Act may provide that the importation of a thing is prohibited unless a permit for its import is granted by a Director of Quarantine.
The Quarantine Proclamation 1998 (‘the Quarantine Proclamation’) is made under section 13 of the Act and provides the legislative basis for controlling the entry of animals, plants and other goods of quarantine concern into Australia. Subsection 63(1) of the Quarantine Proclamation provides that the importation into Australia of a seed (other than a seed of a kind of plant mentioned in Schedule 5 to the Quarantine Proclamation) is prohibited unless a Director of Quarantine has granted a permit for its importation. Schedule 5 to the Quarantine Proclamation lists all seeds that have been assessed as “permitted seeds”. The effect of section 63 is to allow seed species listed in Schedule 5 to be imported into Australia without an import permit.
Purpose and Impact
The purpose of the Quarantine Amendment Proclamation 2009 (No. 3) (‘the Amendment Proclamation’) is to amend the Quarantine Proclamation to update the “permitted seeds” list in Schedule 5 and to correct minor errors in this list.
The Amendment Proclamation amends schedule 5 by inserting 520 seed species and removing 3 seed species. The amendments, therefore, increase overall the number of seed species able to be imported without an import permit. These amendments reflect recent species risk assessments conducted by Biosecurity Australia and the Plant Quarantine Branch of the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS). Biosecurity Australia is the Australian Government agency that conducts science-based risk assessments and advises AQIS on quarantine policy. AQIS is responsible, in conjunction with the Department of Health and Ageing, for administering the Act.
The Amendment Proclamation also corrects minor errors in the list. These amendments corrected the order of the list to conform with the Office of Legislative Drafting and Publishing (OLDP) drafting standards and corrected the formatting of some listed species to apply a consistent approach throughout the list.
Consultation
The Office of Best Practice Regulation determined that the Amendment Proclamation would have a low impact on business and would impose no or low compliance costs. Therefore, no consultation was required for the proposed changes.
Operation
Details of the Amendment Proclamation are set out below.
Section 1 provides that the name of the Amendment Proclamation is the Quarantine Amendment Proclamation 2009 (No. 3).
Section 2 provides that the Amendment Proclamation commences on the day after it is registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments.
Section 3 provides that Schedule 1 amends the Quarantine Proclamation 1998.
Schedule 1 - Amendments
Items 1 to 12 correct the alphabetical order of certain listings to comply with drafting standards. These listings were inconsistent with the current drafting practice of alphabetical ordering due to the presence of quotation marks in some species’ names. In parts of the list, the quotation marks were incorrectly treated as coming before the letter ‘a’. To correct the formatting, the incorrectly ordered species were omitted and re-inserted alphabetically on a letter-by-letter basis, ignoring the quotation marks. This ensured that the format was in line with current drafting practice and consistent throughout the list, ensuring ease of reference for users.
Item 13 inserts a new species of permitted seed - Brocchinia micrantha. This species was recommended by Biosecurity Australia for addition following completion of a Weed Risk Assessment which determined that the species would present a low risk of becoming a weed. See Item 46 for the description of the Weed Risk Assessment process.
This item also corrects the spelling of the listed species Brocchia cinerea and Brocchina reducta. These incorrectly spelt species were omitted and re-inserted with the correct spellings.
Items 14 to 25 correct the order of certain listings to comply with drafting standards and apply a consistent alphabetical format throughout the Schedule 5 list, as described for items 1 to 12 above.
Item 26 corrects the order of certain listings to comply with drafting standards and apply a consistent standard throughout the Schedule 5 list, as described for items 1 to 12 above. This item also corrects the formatting of the word ‘var’ in the Guzmania lingulata species variants. The last compilation had italicised the word ‘var’ for these species variants. However, the word ‘var’ was not italicised in other parts of the Schedule 5 list, which is the correct format.
Items 27 to 30 correct the order of certain listings to comply with drafting standards and apply a consistent alphabetical format throughout the Schedule 5 list, as described for items 1 to 12 above.
Item 31 omits the species Lachenalia kliprandensis from the Schedule 5 list. The effect of this omission is to prohibit the importation of the species without an import permit. This species was added to Schedule 5 in error. Biosecurity Australia recommended that the species be prohibited pending further evaluation.
Item 32 omits the species Lachenalia youngii from the Schedule 5 list. The effect of this omission is to prohibit the importation of the species without an import permit. This species was added to Schedule 5 in error. Biosecurity Australia recommended that the species be prohibited pending further evaluation.
Items 33 to 40 correct the order of certain listings to comply with drafting standards and apply a consistent alphabetical format throughout the Schedule 5 list, as described for items 1 to 12 above.
Item 41 omits the species Sida leprosa from the Schedule 5 list. The effect of this omission is to prohibit the importation of the species without an import permit. Biosecurity Australia recommended the removal of this species.
Items 42 and 43 correct the order of certain listings to comply with drafting standards and apply a consistent alphabetical format throughout the Schedule 5 list, as described for items 1 to 12 above.
Item 44 omits one mention of the species Tillandsia straminea as this species is incorrectly listed twice in Schedule 5. This omission has no effect on the operation of the Quarantine Proclamation.
Item 45 corrects the order of certain listings to comply with drafting standards and apply a consistent alphabetical format throughout the Schedule 5 list, as described for items 1 to 12 above.
This item also inserts one new species of permitted seed - Vriesea koideae. The effect of the insertion is to allow the importation of the species without an import permit. An assessment conducted by AQIS concluded that this species is already present in Australia and not under official control as a weed by any state or territory government bodies. Therefore, the species does not present a risk as a weed and should not have be prohibited. Biosecurity Australia supported this conclusion.
Item 46 inserts 518 new species of permitted seed. The effect of the insertion is to allow the importation of these seed species without an import permit. These species were assessed by either AQIS or Biosecurity Australia as presenting no or a low risk of becoming a weed.
Assessments were undertaken by AQIS where a species is present in Australia and is not listed as being a weed, or considered to present a risk of becoming a weed, by any of the state or territory governments. These species were added to the list without a Weed Risk Assessment being undertaken (see below for an explanation of this process). In undertaking this assessment, AQIS utilised several sources including:
- online herbariums and industry publications to validate that the plant name is a valid and/or widely accepted one
- online herbariums, industry publications, nursery catalogues and commercial invoices as proof that the species is present in Australia or has previously been imported, and
- state and territory government weeds lists to check the control status of the species.
Assessments were undertaken by Biosecurity Australia where AQIS found no evidence that a species was present in Australia and/or identified as being a weed, or considered to present a risk of being a weed, by a state or territory government. On referral from AQIS, Biosecurity Australia conducted a Weed Risk Assessment on these species. This involved a question based scoring method relating to the species’ climatic preferences, biological attributes and reproductive and dispersal method. The score generated determined an outcome of ‘accept’, ‘reject’ or ‘further evaluate’. The Weed Risk Assessment made a prediction as to whether a species may be a weed to agriculture or the environment.