THE red meat industry is calling for calm after biosecurity screenings detected viral fragments of foot and mouth disease in products for sale within Australia for the first time.
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The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry says it is continuing a "purchasing and testing campaign of food for sale in Asian supermarkets" across the nation.
On Wednesday, it was announced viral fragments were found in pork floss - which also had African swine fever fragments - imported from China. The item was pulled off the shelves from several Asian supermarkets in the Melbourne CBD, along with one warehouse.
The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry stressed the testing only found viral fragments, not the live virus, and the country was still free of FMD and ASF.
When asked how many stores and warehouses were tested, a department spokesperson said investigations were still underway and more information would be provided when it became available.
"Out of abundance of caution and given the lack of documentation on the product this pork floss has been removed from the shelves, and the import path is being investigated," the spokesperson said.
The news created a ripple of concern throughout the agricultural community, but Australian Meat Industry Council chief executive Patrick Hutchinson urged farmers to remain calm, pointing out the nation's biosecurity system was focused on the right pathways.
"These findings vindicate AMIC's assertions that this issue is about targeted management of high-risk areas, such as illegally or mis-described food products coming into Australia," Mr Hutchinson said.
"The latest detection of FMD in pork products from China being sold in the CBD of Melbourne shows that the risk of incursion is from not only Indonesia but also from other destinations."
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Australian Livestock Exporters Council chief executive Mark Harvey-Sutton also stressed the need for calm, and said it was "critically important" Australia's global partners understood viral fragments - not the live virus - was discovered.
If FMD is found in Australia, all movement of livestock would immediately halt overnight, effectively grinding the agricultural industry to a halt.
"This routine detection highlights the fact that we do not operate in a risk free environment and that we must continue to invest in our biosecurity systems," Mr Harvey-Sutton said.
In a separate detection, a passenger who recently returned from Indonesia was found with an undeclared beef product that tested positive for foot and mouth viral fragments. It's only the eight time FMD has been detected at the border.
National Farmers' Federation president Fiona Simson said the incident rammed home the need to increase resourcing the nation's biosecurity system and implement a 100 per cent screening policy for all passengers returning from high-risk areas.
"While the system worked in identifying the traveller as high risk, it is understood the returning passenger did not declare their product until questioned by border staff," Ms Simson said.
"This is why we need to implement screening - including individual questioning and luggage check - of all travellers from high-risk areas, both at our airports and ports.
"We must also continually improve our communication methods to ensure all travellers know the importance of following the rules - and the consequences if they do not."
Jamieson Murphy
Whisper g'day mate to me at jamieson.murphy@newcastleherald.com.au
