Benefit cost analysis is a tried and tested analytical framework that can clearly communicate likely net changes in social welfare from investment decisions to diverse stakeholder audiences. However, in a plant biosecurity context, it is often difficult to predict policy benefits over time due...

This paper provides a demonstration of how a comprehensive economic framework, which takes into account both the gains from trade and the costs of invasive species outbreaks, can inform decision-makers when making quarantine decisions. Using the theoretical framework developed in Cook and Fraser...

Like the human immune system, a biosecurity system is a constellation of responses to external attacks comprising of many facets, a number of which can change to optimize the response to these unwanted intrusions. When either system hits the wrong target, or is inhibited or crippled somehow, the...

As a signatory of the World Trade Organisation Agreement, Australia has a responsibility to ensure that the behaviour of its internal markets for food and food-related products abide by the same rules and regulations as international trade. There is therefore an increasing need to demonstrate...

The principal chemicals used by Western Australia’s horticultural industries for field control and post-harvest disinfestation procedures for Mediterranean fruit fly are soon to be withdrawn from use due to public health concerns. When this occurs, the necessary switch to alternative control...

Quarantine trade restrictions enforced on agricultural commodities are both a safety measure and a form of subsidy to local producers. With appropriate strategies in place the risk posed to domestic production systems from exotic pests and diseases is reduced. This often means importers of...

With increasing efficiency in human and freight transport fuelled by the creation of the global market place, pressure is mounting on quarantine administrators to target their resources strategically. A managed approach to decision-making is therefore becoming an integral part of quarantine...