Senator Bob Collins asked the Minister representing the Minister for Primary Industries and Energy, upon notice, on 8 July 1997:

1. How many samples of imported pig meat were tested by Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) officers as part of the Imported Foods Inspection Program in the 1996/97 financial year.

2. What were the results of the tests.

3. How many companies in each Australian State are currently approved by AQIS to import Canadian pig meat.

4. (a) How many of these companies have been audited by AQIS; (b) how many of the audits were random; and (c) in which States are the audited companies located.

5. (a) How many companies were found to be in breach of the quarantine protocol; (b) what was the nature of the breaches; (c) what action was taken by AQIS; and (d) in which States were the companies found to be in breach of the protocols located.

Senator Parer —The Minister for Primary Industries and Energy has provided the following answers to the honourable senator's questions:

1. Eighty-seven samples of imported pig meat were tested by the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service, Imported Food Inspection Program during the 1996-97 financial year.

2. Of the eighty-seven samples tested, eighty-one passed, one failed and five test results are outstanding as at 17 July 1997.

The one (1) failure was for labelling, (it omitted mandatory information)

IFIP Tests on Imported Canadian Swine 1996—97

*   Test results outstanding at time of report.

(3) Importers are not required to be approved in order to import Canadian pig meat or other commodities. Therefore, there is no register of approved importers. Any organisation or individual can apply to AQIS for a permit to import Canadian pig meat

into any state or territory. The import permit is valid for a period of two months and is for one shipment only.

The number of importers currently holding valid permits to import Canadian pig meat are as follows:

4. (a) Every consignment of imported Canadian pig meat is subject to full inspection of documentation and product.

(b) No random audits of importers occurred during financial year 1996/97 as all consignments are subject to full inspection of documentation and product.

(c) Importers of Canadian pig meat consignments inspected during financial year 1996/97 are currently located in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, and South Australia.

5. (a) A total of two processors and two importers were found to be in breach of the quarantine protocol during the financial year of 1996/97.

(b) The breaches by the importers involved a failure by one importer to obtain a movement direction for a single carton of imported pig meat. The other breach related to the inadequacy of the records maintenance system of another importer.

The incidents involving processors included a breach of AQIS requirements for ensuring adequate staff training in relation to handling Canadian pig meat. The second breach involved the failure of the processor to maintain documentation relating to the movement of uncooked Canadian pig meat.

(c) Following each of the non-compliance issues relating to the two pig meat importers and the two processors, AQIS issued letters asking each of the parties to show cause as to why they should be able to continue to import or process this commodity. The matters were then referred to AQIS's Compliance, Legal and Evaluation Branch. As a consequence of the subsequent investigations and periods of suspension for the processors, letters of warning were issued to each of the parties.

Corrective action taken by AQIS involved amending import permits to include the requirement for a declaration to be provided by the importer stating that they understand and will comply with all AQIS import requirements that relate to this commodity. This declaration must be signed before the consignment is released to the importer. The smallgoods processors in breach of AQIS Quarantine requirements were required to amend their manuals to add additional controls and ensure that breaches would not recur.

(d) All breaches of quarantine protocol during the 1996/97 financial year occurred in New South Wales.