- Quarantine WA on the frontline of the State’s biosecurity defences to keep out pests and diseases
- More than 1.4 quarantine inspections undertaken in 2022/23
- Check Western Australia’s quarantine rules before travelling or ordering gifts for Christmas
Quarantine WA inspectors and detector dogs will be on the biosecurity frontline this festive season making sure no unwanted ‘gifts’ put the State at risk.
The Christmas period is the busiest time for travel and parcel deliveries, and detector dogs will be on duty to sniff out potential risk items at the Perth Domestic Airport as well as freight yards and mail centres across the metropolitan area.
Some of the prohibited items include fresh fruit and vegetables, honey, seeds, plants, bunches of flowers and walnuts in the shell which can all carry unwanted pests, diseases and weeds.
Quarantine inspections at Western Australia’s borders are a vital part of the Cook Government’s early warning biosecurity and surveillance systems.
Inspections doubled in the 2022/23 financial year as interstate travel resumed following the removal of COVID restrictions.
More than 1.4 million inspections were carried out across air, road, rail, mail and sea entry points for harmful pests, diseases and weeds such as codling moth, red imported fire ants and the bee disease – American foulbrood that could threaten agriculture and the environment.
This included screening almost 650,000 interstate airline passengers compared to about 250,000 in 2021/22 and inspecting close to 160,000 vehicles at WA/NT and WA/SA road checkpoints, compared to 80,000 in the previous financial year.
More than 258,000 parcels were also screened at the mail centres across the metropolitan area in 2022/23.
From July to September this year, the Quarantine WA team has already screened about 150,000 airline passengers, 87,000 vehicles at road checkpoints and 65,000 parcels.
More information on WA’s quarantine rules is available from https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/biosecurity-quarantine/quarantine/importing-western-australia
As stated by Agriculture and Food Minister Jackie Jarvis:
“The early detection of any pest, weed or disease is critical to being able to contain and eradicate the threat to protect our $11 billion agriculture, aquaculture and fisheries industries as well as the environment.
“The Quarantine WA team with the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development are vital parts of our defence – carrying out inspections at the State’s key air, road, rail, mail and sea entry points.
“If you are planning to visit WA this Christmas or ordering presents for family and friends, make sure you check the quarantine import requirements first so you don’t unknowingly include gifts that could be carrying unwanted pests and diseases.
“It is also vital for people returning to WA from overseas this holiday period to make sure they are following the national quarantine requirements to ensure diseases such as foot and mouth are not brought back in with them.”
