The Quarantine Management of Australia's Antarctic Program

Abstract

The Protocol oil Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty requires that Parties do not introduce animals or plants not native to the Antarctic region onto the Antarctic continent's land or ice shelves or into the surrounding water. The Protocol does not make a distinction between introductions per se and introductions of species with the potential to establish. This suggests that all human-mediated introductions are considered, or ought to be assumed to be, problematic—a stance that is significantly different from the quarantine standards generally adopted by national quarantine services, which for the most part are focused upon preventing the introduction or spread of disease and species deemed to be pests or weeds. In the absence of any Antarctic Treaty System prescribed sanitary and phyto-sanitary standards or procedures, the onus is on Treaty Parties to develop and apply quarantine measures that they consider will provide Antarctica with an appropriate level of protection. The Australian Government's efforts to minimise unintentional introductions associated with its activities in Antarctica and the Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands are detailed. The mitigation strategies adopted are intended to simultaneously capture a wide range of species and contaminants.