VICTORIAN food outlets supplying pig owners with food waste (swill) containing any meat will be hit with fines of up to $53,139.
Victorian farmers have welcomed the State Government’s decision to create a new offence and fines of up to $53,139 for any business – from restaurant to garbage disposal service – that supplies swill to pig producers.
Agriculture minister Peter Walsh said the new offence was in addition to existing swill feeding penalties of up to $17,713 for farmers.
VFF Livestock President Ian Feldtmann said feeding swill put the whole Australian livestock industry at risk of contracting Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD).
Last year a Department of Environment and Primary Industries (DEPI) survey of 613 regional Victorian restaurants, hotels and other food outlets found 71 of them supplied their waste to pig owners.
Mr Feldtmann said it would only take one of these food outlets to supply some imported out-of-date food waste form an FMD-affected country to a pig producer to put the whole livestock industry at risk.
ABARES estimates an outbreak of the exotic FMD would cost the livestock industry $52 billion. Australia’s livestock and meat exports would come to a grinding halt.
“The Matthews Report commissioned by the Commonwealth Government stated that the feeding of swill would actually be the most likely cause of entry of food and mouth disease into Australia,” Mr Walsh.
“The Department of Environment and Primary Industries investigates cases of potential swill feeding and has successfully prosecuted through the courts.”
VFF Pig Group president John Bourke said FMD was a nightmare Australian livestock producers never wanted to face.
“But we can’t afford to close our eyes to the evidence DEPI’s survey has delivered to the industry,” Mr Bourke said.
“Some would say the risk of FMD contaminated meat or dairy product entering Australia and being fed to livestock is minute.
“But the improbable came close to the possible when a consignments of frozen uncooked meat products from FMD-affected South Korea, were found on Australian retailers’ shelves in 2011.”
The Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service discovered about 3000 tonnes of illegally imported uncooked and cooked pork, chicken and beef spring rolls and dim-sims had been shipped into Australia from South Korea for at least 12 months. This was at a time when South Korea had just gone through an FMD outbreak.
The South Korean imports had already been distributed to food outlets before AQIS discovered the breach.
“Pigs are the world’s most effective incubator of the FMD virus,” Mr Bourke said.
“People who feed swill may think it’s cheap but at the end of the day it’s a cost to the industry, and a huge fine to them, it’s just not worth it.
“The greatest risk Australia faces is seeing FMD spread into the feral population, where it would be virtually uncontrollable.”
Mr Walsh said as well as the added offence for businesses, the Coalition Government was also undertaking a number of measures to raise awareness within the industry including sending information packs to producers and developing a Pig Biosecurity Standard addressing swill feeding and other biosecurity issues.
