Australia allocates money to prevent swine fever

Australia's Ministry of Agriculture is allocating more than $66 million to the fight against African swine fever. The country has not yet been hit by an outbreak of the disease and would like to keep it that way. That is why the full amount is used for new prevention measures.

Bridget McKenzie, Australia's agriculture minister, recently said it will release $66,6 million for measures to help contain an outbreak of African swine fever. Converted, this concerns an amount of €59 million. The agriculture minister has already allocated part of the budget. For example, 130 extra officers are placed at the border, who have to conduct half a million extra passenger surveys every year.

These agents are also given the opportunity to report problems directly (and not through labs). Also, 2020 new detection dogs will be deployed at airports and postal centers in Australia by July 6. Another major investment, according to McKenzie, is the commissioning of 2 new 3D X-ray equipment in the postal centers of Melbourne and Sydney.

Export Bans
"If African swine fever is detected here, it could decimate our pork industry," the minister said in a statement. The Australian pork industry currently contributes $5,2 billion to the country's economy. "Our agricultural sector has already had to fight hard against the drought this year. We cannot afford a blow like this." Australia exports about 70% of production. In the event of an outbreak, various countries a ban introduce on Australian meat.

Kimberly Baker

Kimberly Bakker is an all-round editor at Boerenbusiness. She also has an eye for the social media channels of Boerenbusiness.

k.baker @boerenbusiness. Nl

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