The Federal Government of Australia has missed an opportunity to share responsibility for national biosecurity more equitably across industry with its recent decision not to proceed with the Onshore Biosecurity Levy, according to Greenlife Industry Australia.
In 2017, an independent panel responsible for reviewing the national biosecurity system presented its final report, Priorities for Australia's biosecurity system, to the Agriculture Ministers' Forum. This report explicitly acknowledged that the national biosecurity system is built on ‘shared responsibility’, i.e. the cooperation, investment and actions by all governments, industry bodies, exporters and importers, farmers, miners, tourists, researchers and the broader community.
Its authors recommended that funding for the national biosecurity system should be increased through several measures, including but not limited to the implementation of a per-container levy on incoming shipping containers of $10 per twenty-foot equivalent unit and a levy of $5 on incoming air containers.
Click here to read the complete article at www.greenlifeindustry.com.au