Importers, exporters tipped to face price hikes to help fund biosecurity services

Source: ABC / National rural reporter Kath Sullivan

30 April, 2023.

Importers and farmers are being warned to expect changes to the cost of importing and exporting from Australia, as the government seeks a new way to fund biosecurity services.

Speculation has been growing that the government will use next week's federal budget to introduce a levy on imports — something the former government announced but failed to implement — to fund biosecurity services such as sniffer dogs and x-ray screening at ports and airports.

The extent to which the levy would be imposed, or an existing charge increased, remains unclear but the former Coalition policy would have raised hundreds of millions of dollars by applying charges on all imports from whitegoods to TVs to cars and computers.

Speaking in Brisbane this week, federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt stopped short of announcing a levy, but confirmed existing import charges needed to change and a more sustainable funding model was needed to fend off the threat of pests and disease.

Senator Watt suggested both importers and exporters should expect to pay to boost funding for national biosecurity.

"The federal government and taxpayers have a responsibility to help pay for our system to keep these sorts of diseases out, but I do think we need to ensure that the cost of providing biosecurity services is shared across the community," he said.

"That includes making sure that the risk creator, like importers, and people who benefit from the biosecurity system all pay their way as well because it's in all of our interests to keep agriculture safe and have a strong biosecurity system."

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