Case Glossary

Any material that originates from, or is produced by a living animal, including hair, fur, skin, faeces, shell, blood and fluids, feathers, honey, flesh and bone.

The Risks of Animal Material
Products derived from animals pose a significant biosecurity risk. All animal parts/products such as animal tissues and blood can introduce serious animal pathogens. Many viruses and bacteria are able to survive for long periods in tissue, blood and mucous.

Biosecurity Risk Material (BRM) includes but is not limited to:

1. Animal Material (e.g. hair, fur, skin, faeces, shell, blood and fluids, feathers, honey, flesh, bone, horn)
2. Live Animals (e.g. rodents, reptiles, geckos, frogs and birds)
3. Food scraps (e.g. peel, shells, skins and wrappers)
4. Plant material (e.g. reproductive material (e.g. pollen, spores, seeds, flowers, fruits, and vegetables), fresh material (e.g. leaves, gum and stems) and dry material (e.g. pods, bark, branches, roots, straw, wood)
5. Live plants (e.g. plants, weeds, sprouted seeds and propagatable material)
6. Live insects (e.g. timber pests (e.g. termites, ants and larvae), stored product pests (e.g. beetles and larvae), insects seeking refuge (e.g. ants, bees, wasps, moths and spiders), hitchhikers (e.g. grasshoppers and butterflies) and plant pests (e.g. fruit flies, mites, thrips, etc)
7. Evidence of live insects (e.g. wasps nests, mud nests, wings, shells and casings)
8. Snails and slugs
9. Evidence of snails and slugs (e.g. shells, eggs and trail marks)
10. Plant pathogens (e.g. fungi, nematodes, bacteria, viruses and mould)
11. Soil (e.g. dirt, mud, gravel, clay and sand)
12. Water (e.g. pools of water, water in receptacles, articles used with water)

Food scraps may be any biosecurity risk material of plant or animal origin and include any discarded food items that contaminate imported cargo. This includes but is not limited to fruit peelings, meat scraps, seeds and pips. Food items may carry animal or plant diseases or be infested with live insects.

Goods include:

1. An animal
2. A plant
3. A sample or specimen of a disease agent
4. A pest
5. Mail; and
6. Any other article substance or thing.

Goods does not include ballast water or human remains. It also does not include a conveyance, except in certain circumstances.

The department will assess the application and on the basis of that assessment may decide to grant an import permit subject to any conditions deemed necessary for safe importation, use and disposal of those products.

It should be noted that applying for an import permit does not automatically result in an import permit being issued. The Director of biosecurity or their delegate issues the import permit. You should ensure that an application is submitted for each product type and that the prescribed fee accompanies the import permit application.

Any animal that is alive, unintentionally entering Australia as a hitchhiker via sea or airfreight. They include but are not limited to mammals (e.g. rats), amphibians (e.g. toads and frogs), reptiles, birds and other vertebrates.

The Risks of Live Animals

Live animals can introduce exotic diseases into Australian territory. Live animals can be infested with parasites such as ticks, mites and fleas, which can act as vectors that transmit disease.