Nursery & Garden Industry Australia (NGIA) have developed the on-farm biosecurity program ‘BioSecure HACCP’ (2015 National Biosecurity Award) to assist producers improve on-farm biosecurity and market access. BioSecure HACCP delivers significant on-farm biosecurity benefits to growers as well as efficiency benefits to the regulator and reduces plant pest risks to the community. This is achieved through on-farm biosecurity procedures, electronic data management, domestic market access certification and traceability with an overall pest risk reduction along the supply chain.
The program and the web based Audit Management System (AMS) is designed as a holistic plant pest, disease and weed management system for on-farm implementation by individual production nurseries (Integrated Cropping System). The program seeks to identify and manage internal and external (endemic & exotic) pest threats that may harm the integrity of a plant production process through preparedness and by positioning the production system as ‘biosecurity ready’ under a ‘business as usual’ approach within the cropping system, 24/7.
Growers implement a structured proactive crop monitoring, surveillance and inspection system that is robust, technically valid and adaptable to the on-farm production cycles of containerised cropping along with high health practices under Best Management Practice. Risk reduction of key inputs along with early detection and traceability are the critical aims of the BioSecure HACCP program whilst seamlessly fitting into a typical plant production system in a cost-effective manner.
NGIA has worked with Australian state and territory governments over the past few years to gain acceptance and recognition of BioSecure HACCP as a third legal alternative for producers to meet interstate market access obligations. NGIA has demonstrated that with the combined robust nature of the on-farm program plus an innovative electronic administration process BioSecure HACCP certified growers can be authorised to self-certify compliance to interstate biosecurity entry conditions with NGIA the administering authority.