Biosecurity officers mistakenly destroy rare plant specimens

Australian biosecurity officers mistakenly destroyed historic plant specimens on loan from France after a paperwork mix-up.

A box of rare daisies from the 1850s had been sent to Brisbane from the National Museum of Natural History in Paris. But the pressed plant samples were incinerated because accompanying documents were filled out incorrectly. Australian quarantine authorities have ordered a review into the incident.

The plants were destroyed in March 2017 due to missing information such as details of the specimens, quarantine authorities said.

The French museum was upset that the "irreplaceable collection" had been destroyed, said Professor Michelle Waycott, chair of the Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria. She said the flowers may have come from a habitat that no longer existed. "Sometimes they [the collections] may be the last remaining examples of species," she told the BBC. "I don't think that was the case in this instance, but they are certainly highly valuable, particularly because they were collected so long ago."

Australia's Department of Agriculture and Water Resources, which oversees biosecurity, has asked for a review. "The department acknowledges the significant value as a botanical reference collection," a spokesperson told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. "The destruction of the specimens should not have proceeded while communication between the department and the intended recipient was ongoing."

Australia has some of the strictest quarantine regulations in the world. Arriving passengers must declare for inspection by quarantine officials all food, plant and animal materials and products to ensure that they are free of pests and diseases. This is maintained by the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources. In addition, no plant material, such as dried flowers, can be posted to Australia as they are usually destroyed by quarantine officials.

The Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) import and export inspection and certification is essential to maintain Australia’s high quarantine controls at the country’s borders to minimise the risk of exotic pests and diseases to protect Australia’s agriculture industries and environment. AQIS does this by specialist Federal law enforcement officers known as Quarantine & Exports Inspectors, or 'quarantine officers' or ‘biosecurity officers.’

Biosecurity Australia is an agency within the Australian Government Department of Agriculture and Water Resources. Biosecurity Australia provide policy advice to AQIS concerning the importation of quarantine risk materials to Australia when requested by AQIS. Under the Quarantine Act 1908, AQIS (and not Biosecurity Australia) has responsibility for setting the rules concerning the imports into the country.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-39777196?ocid=global_bbccom_email_08052017_top+news+stories+australia

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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