The challenge for Australia is to have a pest surveillance system that takes into account the diverse plant industries and the range of production, the large area over which production occurs, the urban areas as well as natural ecosystems. This has to be considered in the global setting where increased trade and travel have magnified the potential for pest incursions.

The Surveillance Program will aim to enhance responsiveness and thereby reduce economic risks to Australia's agri-food industries and market access posed by pest introductions.

The program will develop and implement science-based sample/survey methodologies and systems to enhance the ability to capture a wide range of plant health information in an accurate and cost effective manner that will be acceptable to international and domestic markets.

Goal

A more effective national surveillance system based on scientifically sound sampling tools and survey methodologies.

Actions

• Develop technically sound and cost-effective surveillance procedures.
• Develop surveillance procedures that are linked to information databases, GIS datasets and other technologies.
• Develop surveillance technologies that capture all the relevant survey data required to accurately define Australia's plant health status, including confirmation of pest free areas, and detect emergency plant pests.

Benefits

• Optimum placement of traps for surveillance.
• More effective remote trapping technologies for detecting emergency plant pests.
• Improved surveillance through better training of staff and use of hand-held data acquisition technology.
• Earlier detection of emergency plant pest incursions through use of remote sensing technologies.