Biosecurity Systems and International Regulations

This chapter provides a summary of the structure of national biosecurity systems, using Australian and international examples. We define a biosecurity system as the suite of management activities implemented by a jurisdiction to protect its economy, environment, and human health from the damaging impacts of pests and diseases. A biosecurity system includes key activities conducted in pre-border, border, and post-border settings, as well as other components such as human, financial, and physical resources and broader influencing factors. Pre-border activities are primarily influenced by international regulations, including the World Trade Organisation's Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures. Border and post-border biosecurity measures are typically the domains of national and local participants. Biosecurity systems are organised hierarchically (incorporating participants at various levels of authority), with interconnected activities that contribute to the overall performance and efficiency of the system. An advanced way of dealing with this dense web of interactions is to implement a fully integrated biosecurity framework, featuring legislative authority, a budget, and integrated institutional arrangements. In mature biosecurity systems, all phases of the biosecurity continuum work in a coordinated fashion to ensure high performance and efficient resource allocation.