EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Statutory Rules 1987 No 193
ISSUED BY THE AUTHORITY OF THE MINISTER FOR RESOURCES
QUARANTINE (GENERAL) REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT)
Subsection 87(1) of the Quarantine Act 1908 empowers the Governor-General to make regulations for carrying out or giving effect to the Act.
The Quarantine (General) Regulations (Amendment) (‘the Amendment’) makes amendments to the Quarantine (General) Regulations (‘the Principal Regulations’), which prescribe matters relevant to the quarantine control of the introduction of harmful diseases and pests into Australia.
Regulation 25 of the Principal Regulations requires the master of a vessel that is in an Australian port to cause every opening in the side of the vessel to be obstructed, and be kept obstructed, to stop rats leaving the vessel and to cause effective rat guards to be fitted to all ropes holding the vessel.
Regulation 2 of the Amendment amends regulation 25 by omitting subregulation 25(4) (which specified the requirements for an effective rat guard for the purposes of subregulation 25(2)) and substituting a new subregulation 25(4) which applies the requirements of subregulations 25(1) and (2) only until a quarantine officer has inspected the vessel and found it to be free of rats.
Regulation 66 of the Principal Regulations requires treatment of aircraft compartments for destruction of insects (‘disinsection’).
Regulation 3 of the Amendment amends subregulation 66(2) by removing the requirement that the ventilators in an aircraft compartment are to be closed before and during inflight disinsection.
The Amendment entered into force on gazettal.