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The current system in Australia is reviewed in Paton (1995). Two principal Acts apply, the Quarantine Act
(Commonwealth of Australia
1985), designed to keep out diseases of humans and agricultural pests, and the Wildlife Protection Act
(Commonwealth of Australia
1982), designed to control trade in endangered wildlife.
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Patterson's curse, Echium plantagineum,
is regarded as a weed in crops.
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A third Act, the Biological Control Act (Commonwealth of Australia
1984), was designed to deal with conflicts of interest such as that over the biological control of
Patterson's curse, Echium plantagineum, which is regarded by some as a weed and by others as a useful plant
(Cullen and Delfosse
1985). The Act provides a legal basis for decisions about biological control when conflicts of interest arise, but unfortunately review procedures are protracted and onerous, and the Act has never been used for weed biological control programs.
The Quarantine Act and Wildlife Protection Act are administered by separate Government Departments and a permit is required under both Acts, that is, permission is required from the two Departments. Issue of permits is administered by the
Australian Quarantine Inspection Service
(AQIS) according to protocols developed over the years, and with the assistance of reviewers in each of the eight States and Territories.
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Currently, the two Departments co-operate to issue permits under a single system, described at the internet site
http://www.affa.gov.au, which works as
follows:
 | The initial Application, to import an agent into quarantine for detailed testing, is submitted to AQIS in Canberra.
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| The application is considered by a small panel of three experts (entomologists) who advise
AQIS. At this stage, the main consideration is whether the agent can be safely maintained in the quarantine insectary proposed by the applicant. AQIS have a system of registration of quarantine insectaries, of which there are four in Australia, two in Brisbane, one near Melbourne and one in Canberra.
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| The application is approved and AQIS and Wildlife permits to import into quarantine are granted. The agent can now be imported and a colony established in the quarantine
insectary.
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| Together with the original Application or separately, the applicant submits to AQIS a proposed Test List, a list of the plants on which the agent will be tested. The list is usually based on the phylogeny of the weed (See
Compiling
a Plant List), and the test methods are not usually specified.
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| AQIS sends the proposed Test List to both the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Environment in each of the six states, to the Federal Departments, to
CSIRO, and to various other scientific or technical agencies
- 21 groups in all.
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| In each of these Departments and agencies, the Test List is studied by scientists, who may be botanists, entomologists, conservationists or biological control practitioners, and their comments are sent back to
AQIS.
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| Any changes, additions, etc. are discussed with the applicant, and an agreed Test List is arrived at. This is then final; applicants can test as many additional plants as they wish, but plants cannot be omitted, nor can other organisations later demand the addition of further plants, without further discussion.
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| When testing has been completed, the applicant writes an Application to Release the agent, detailing the results of the host-testing and all other relevant information, and again submits this to
AQIS.
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| AQIS sends the Application to Release to the same 21 groups in each State and Territory as before, for their consideration and comment.
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| If all the 21 agencies are in favour of the application, both AQIS and Wildlife Australia issue a Release permit. The review process, from submission of the Application to granting the permits, takes 3 to 6 months.
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| If any of the 21 agencies have objections to the application, their comments are relayed back to the applicant for reply. Reviewers may be totally opposed to granting the permit, or may ask for extra tests, or more information, etc.
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| If most groups are in favour, and one or two are opposed, or require what seem frivolous extra tests, AQIS may grant the permit anyway. However, if there is a serious disagreement, the permit is not granted
- AQIS and Wildlife Australia act conservatively if in doubt.
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| When there is a real conflict of interest, e.g. where there is likely to be damage to the environment but real benefit to agriculture, the Biological Control Act allows for a public inquiry ending in a decision at Ministerial level. |
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Features of this system are:
| Wide consultation with Departments of Agriculture and Conservation in all States
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| Ability to resolve minor issues easily
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| Open process that is understood by all
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| Written applications so that information is permanently on record
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| Onus on applicants to put all necessary information into the application. |
There are problems of delays, change of personnel in State departments, and in resolving serious conflicts, but in general the system works well, with 57 import and 33 release permits for new biological control agents issued in 1994 (S. Griffin
pers. comm. 1995). AQIS permits are valid for two years and for several shipments, which is ideal. Wildlife Australia permits are valid for 6 months and only one shipment, but permits for several shipments may be issued at the same time if required.
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Rachel McFadyen
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