Page 7 - APN1022book

World hungry for food security
Under existing rules, no animals or animal products are allowed into Australia unless they meet our strict biosecurity requirements.
Australia bans personal imports of meat in foot and mouth crackdown
THE Australian Gov- ernment has banned the importation of meat products for personal use from all countries with foot and mouth dis- ease, according to a gov- ernment news release.
into Australia unless they meet our strict bio- security requirements.
as FMD and lumpy skin disease, I asked my de- partment to review our import settings for risk products from all coun- tries with FMD, not only Indonesia.”
The Minister for Ag- riculture, Fisheries and Forestry Murray Watt said the new restrictions, which came into effect September 8, were the next step in the Gov- ernment’s strong three- pronged approach to tackling FMD.
“When FMD was first detected in Indonesia, the Department of Agricul- ture tightened the rules for commercial imports of FMD-risk products from Indonesia.
Minister Watt said that while FMD had been endemic in countries around the world for dec- ades, this was the first time such strong meas- ures had been enforced.
“While Australia re- mains FMD-free, we must remain vigilant to biosecurity threats from overseas,” Minister Watt said.
“But prior to these new changes, private citizens were able to bring in some highly processed meat products for per- sonal use – products such as pâté, pork crackling or meat floss.
“Biosecurity is every- one’s responsibility, and together we can all do our bit to keep Australia pest and disease free.”
“Under existing rules, no animals or animal products are allowed
“With the ongoing spread of diseases such
“Then, when the out- break reached Bali, the Albanese Government moved swiftly to increase thescreeningofallprod- ucts arriving from Indo- nesia via mail.
“The former govern- ment did not take this action in response to pre- vious overseas outbreaks, but after considering the evidence, we are not pre- pared to accept this risk,” he said.
* from P6
Only 11 percent of our
latest figures by the Aus- tralian Bureau of Statis- tics.
“At the turn of the cen- tury, we started noticing a plethora of health issues – such as diabetes and obe- sity – starting to become more common in the com- munity,” he said.
Sustainability develop- ment goals
food is imported, and this is mostly driven by diverse tastes and preferences.
With almost 70 percent of our commodities shipped overseas, this leaves Aus- tralia vulnerable to global supply chain disruptions or natural disasters that can impact crop seasons, Prof le Coutre said.
The UN’s sustainability development goals repre- sent a blueprint designed to end poverty and improve health and education.
While we may see short price surges in food from time to time, these dis- ruptions are usually only temporary.
“And then people started realising that what they ate had a huge impact on their health.
From zero hunger to pro- viding decent work and economic growth, each SDG has its own targets, indicators and progress reports.
Prof le Coutre believes Australia is in a much better position compared to the rest of the world.
“We’ve already seen how conflict in countries halfway across the world can impact food prices lo- cally.”
“If we provide people with inadequate food, it’s only going to create more health issues for them.
While only a handful of the SDGs specifically call out targets around food, the overarching themes of all 17 goals can be linked to food and agriculture.
“Australia’s food land- scape is in relatively good shape,” he said.
“So, it’s important that we shift our focus on fur- ther developing the do- mestic food manufacturing and processing market as well,” he said.
“People need access to high quality healthy food and at affordable prices.
“We have extremely pre- mium livestock and the quality of our fruits and vegetables reflects our strong agriculture industry.
Health is wealth
“With rising food costs and global food shortages, it harder for people from low socio-economic de- mographics to access good food.
Prof le Coutre said the SDGs are interconnected and achieving them all will put an end to world’s food security issue.
“ W h i l e w e d o n’ t h a v e an imminent food secu- rity problem, our overall economy is still heavily reliant on exports.”
For many years, the be- lief was that supplying people with enough calo- ries would mean they lived longer but modern health economics tells a different story, according to Prof le Coutre.
Australia’s premium livestock and quality of fruits and vegetables reflects our strong agriculture industry. Photo: Brad Halcrow
“Food security is a mul- tifaceted and multi-dimen- sional problem, and the solution must go hand-in hand with strategies that improve the livelihood of people beyond providing food,” he said.
In 2020-21, Australia’s agricultural sector was worth approximately $71 billion, according to the
“A healthy population means they can contribute to a healthy economy, which in turn can support providing better food – it’s the economic health cycle.”
“For example, enforcing sustainable agriculture policies can help alleviate water scarcity issues, di- rectly linking to SDG number six ‘Clean water and sanitation’.
“But it must be done on a global scale and all stake- holders need to commit to the goals – you can’t have some of the world’s biggest emitters of green- house gases operating at the same scale in 10 years, it’s not going to work.
“Just as the impact of these issues are linked, so are the solutions.
“We all have a key role to play in making sure these targets are met.”
When you demand performance, turn to the product you trust
Your trusted partner
Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health Australia Pty. Ltd. Level 1, 78 Waterloo Road, North Ryde NSW 2113. ABN 53 071 187 285. ®Ingelvac CircoFLEX is a registered trademark of Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica GmbH. All rights reserved. AU-POR-0029-2021
More than 10 years of experience with more data than any comparable vaccine
www.porknews.com.au
Australian Pork Newspaper, October 2022 – Page 7