Changes

The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (department) has updated the list of countries approved for the import of cooked and uncooked pig meat and for natural casings.

The list of countries approved for casings can be found on the department website: List of countries for natural casings derived from bovine, caprine, ovine or porcine animals.

The list of countries approved for the import of pig meat has now been published on the department website: List of countries approved for pig meat.

Following official notification of an outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF), import of pig meat and porcine casings from Sweden is no longer permitted.

The department will be in contact with any permit holders affected by this change to provide further information about the impact on import conditions for specific goods.

If you are currently preparing a consignment of pig meat and/or porcine casings from Sweden, then you are advised not to dispatch the consignment. If any of these goods are currently in transit to Australia, please contact the department as soon as possible.

Who does this notice affect:
Importers of goods cooked and uncooked pig meat and porcine casings from Sweden, Pathway Operations Cargo – Assessment and Inspection, and the Pig meat team, BIST.

Background:
The department has received official notification of an outbreak of ASF in Sweden.

The Director of Biosecurity is required to act on changes to disease status in order to manage Australia’s biosecurity risk to an appropriate level of protection (ALOP).

African swine fever (ASF) is a contagious viral disease of domestic and wild pigs. Since 2007, the disease has spread throughout the world. ASF has never occurred in Australia, and it is a significant biosecurity threat to our country.

An outbreak would be devastating for our pig industry and also damage our trade and the economy. A small-scale outbreak of ASF in domestic pigs followed by eradication of the disease was estimated to cost $117 million to $263 million. Endemic ASF was estimated to cost between about $0.4 billion and $2.5 billion.

Further information:
Please contact the Food Biosecurity Imports team on 1800 900 090 (prompt 1, prompt 1) or via email at imports@aff.gov.au.

Additional information on African Swine Fever can be found on the department’s website:

Potential economic consequences of African swine fever in Australia - DAFF (agriculture.gov.au)

Keeping African swine fever out of Australia - DAFF (agriculture.gov.au)