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QUARANTINE AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 2001 (NO. 1) 2001 NO. 154

Statutory Rules 2001 No. 154

Issued by the authority of the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

Quarantine Act 1908

Quarantine Amendment Regulations 2001 (No. 1)

Section 87 of the Quarantine Act 1908 (the Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with the Act, prescribing all matters which by this Act are required or permitted to be prescribed or which are necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to this Act.

The purpose of the Quarantine Amendment Regulations 2001(No. 1) is to amend the Quarantine Regulations 2000 to revise and clarify a number of provisions relating to quarantine, including:

•       to clarify that the offence in subregulation 21(1) requires that a person providing false or misleading information must know that the information is false or misleading;

•       to update the range of prescribed information in regulations 10 and 18 for the purposes of pre-arrival reporting by vessels and in respect of the matters about which quarantine officers may ask questions under sections 27A and 28 of the Act;

•       to prescribe State and Territory laws following an amendment to section 46A of the Act by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Amendment Act (No. 1) 2000; and

•       to set in place rules relating to the recording, retention and accessing of ballast water information.

The amendment to subregulation 21(1) is in response to concerns expressed by the Senate Standing Committee on Regulations and Ordinances. The Committee considered that it was unclear whether the offence set out in the subregulation was intended to be a strict liability offence. The amendment to regulations 10 and 18 allows quarantine officers to obtain a wider range of information on matters of quarantine concern, including more detailed information on ballast water management by vessels. The amendment prescribing State and Territory laws for the purposes of section 46A of the Act allows the Director of Quarantine to take offences against such laws into account when granting or suspending or revoking an approval of a place where goods subject to quarantine may be treated or otherwise dealt with. The amendment relating to ballast water supports the new ballast water management requirements for the international shipping industry to be introduced by the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service from 1 July 2001.

Details of the amendment are set out below:

Regulation 1 provides that the Regulations are named the Quarantine Amendment Regulations 2001 (No. 1).

Regulation 2 provides that the Regulations commence on 1 July 2001.

Regulation 3 provides that Schedule 1 of the Regulations amends the Quarantine Regulations 2000.

Schedule 1

Item 1 inserts a definition for the Decision Support System (the DSS). The DSS is a computer based tool available to masters of overseas vessels which assesses the risk of the ballast water they are carrying in terms of introducing exotic species into Australian waters. Based on this information, masters are able to manage their ballast water before arriving in Australia thereby saving the time, money and inconvenience of having to take special measures on arrival in Australia. The DSS is referred to in some of the new items concerning ballast water in regulations 10 and 18.

Item 2 inserts a definition for the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Guidelines. The Guidelines are referred to in new items concerning ballast water in regulations 10 and 18.

Item 3 changes prescribed information so that the master of a vessel must now include in a pre-arrival report for the purposes of section 27A of the Act information identifying the last 6 ports of call of the vessel or installation unless a quarantine officer has notified a lesser number. Before this amendment only 4 ports of call were required. The ability to obtain information concerning the last 6 ports of call is necessary to enable proper assessment of the risks of foot and mouth disease.

Item 4 prescribes information about changes of crew in Australia. The effect of this item is to require the master of a vessel or installation to include this information in a pre-arrival report for the purposes of section 27A of the Act. This information will ensure that quarantine inspections can be arranged for the luggage belonging to the crew leaving the vessel or installation in Australia.

Item 5 changes prescribed information so that the master of a vessel must now include in a pre-arrival report for the purposes of section 27A of the Act information about whether the vessel or installation has been in certain Russian Ports over the previous 24 months. Before this amendment, the period covered was the "previous 12 months". Information about Russian ports is relevant to the assessment of risks in relation to Asian gypsy moth. The risk cannot be adequately determined unless the information covers a 24 month period.

Item 6 prescribes information about whether a vessel or installation has been inspected and cleared as being free of Asian gypsy moth. The effect of this item is to require the master of a vessel or installation to include this information in a pre-arrival report for the purposes of section 27A of the Act. This information will ensure that quarantine inspections are not conducted unnecessarily on vessels or installations that have been cleared as being free of Asian gypsy moth.

Item 7 prescribes information about the carriage of livestock and grain and any cleaning that has been performed since the livestock or grain was discharged. The effect of this item is to require the master of a vessel or installation to include this information in a pre-arrival report for the purposes of section 27A of the Act. This information will enable quarantine officers to make assessments about the extent of the quarantine risk posed by the vessel or installation and to plan appropriate quarantine measures in response.

Item 8 prescribes information about ballast water. The effect of this item is to require the master of a vessel or installation to include this information in a pre-arrival report for the purposes of section 27A of the Act. This information is additional to the information already prescribed in relation to ballast water and will ensure that quarantine officers have more comprehensive information about the extent of the quarantine risk posed by the ballast water being carried by a vessel or installation and enable them to plan appropriate quarantine measures in response.

Items 9 to 14 prescribe new matters or amend existing prescribed matters for the purposes of subsection 28(1) of the Act. Section 28 empowers quarantine officers to require, inter alia, that the master of certain vessels and installations answer questions about prescribed matters that are relevant to the vessel or installation. These items make changes to mirror the changes made to the information prescribed for the purposes of section 27A of the Act so that quarantine officers may require that questions be answered on the full range of matters covered in the pre-arrival report.

Item 15 amends subregulation 21(1) of the Regulations in response to concerns expressed by the Senate Standing Committee on Regulations and Ordinances. The Committee considered that it was unclear whether the offence set out in the subregulation was intended to be a strict liability offence. The amendment clarifies that the offence is not a strict liability offence by stating that the offence requires a mental element of knowledge.

Item 16 substitutes a new heading for Part 2, Division 3 of the Quarantine Regulations 2000. The new heading reflects the inclusion in the Division of the requirements relating to the recording, retention and accessing of ballast water information.

Item 17 inserts requirements for the recording, retention and accessing of ballast water information. The master of a vessel or installation is required to record, in respect of each ballast water tank or cargo hold, information about each ballast water treatment or exchange, ballast water uptake and ballast water discharge. The master of a vessel is required to have on the vessel the ballast water information for the vessel for the previous 2 years. This information will provide an indication of whether the vessel or installation has in place sound ballast water management procedures and also provide verification of information provided in pre-arrival reports.

This Item also provides that if the ballast water information is not made available to a quarantine officer on request, an officer may take that fact into account in forming an opinion under section 78A of the Act that the vessel is in an insanitary condition, or is likely to be carrying diseases or pests. Once this opinion is formed, section 78A of the Act authorises a quarantine officer to give a direction to the master requiring a specified process to be carried out in respect of the vessel or installation, at a specified location and in a manner specified in the direction.

Item 18 corrects the note after regulation 40. The note incorrectly referred to a "quarantine disease" instead of a "quarantinable disease".

Item 19 prescribes State and Territory laws for the purposes of section 46A of the Act. Section 46A of the Act provides a framework for industry to participate in quarantine activities. This amendment is consequential on the amendment to section 46A of the Act by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Legislation Amendment Act (No. 1) 2000. The effect of the amendment to section 46A was to permit the Director of Quarantine to seek and take into account information about offences against prescribed State and Territory laws when granting an approval or suspending or revoking approvals under the section. Until amended by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Legislation Amendment Act (No. 1) 2000, section 46A permitted the prescription of Commonwealth laws only.