In this hypothetical example, the scenario is:
- You are the owner or manager of a small scale “pick your own” farm in Tasmania.
- During the picking season, you allow members of the public to come and pick the produce on your farm.
- Customers often arrive unannounced.
General Biosecurity Duty (GBD) Actions and Outcomes
Meeting your GBD
Below are
SOME EXAMPLES that show how taking action to meet your GBD can have positive outcomes.
- To minimise unrestricted access to your property, you have good boundary fencing and a biosecurity sign on your property's front gate.
- You have hand and footwear cleaning facilities available at the entry to the picking areas.
- You provide picking buckets for customer use, and discourage customers bringing their own containers.
- You have signs indicating designated pathways for customers to use to move around the property.
- When you notice unusual signs of pest presence or disease in some of the plants on your farm, you put a hold on picking activities and contact Biosecurity Tasmania to collect samples for analysis or to receive advice on sample collection and submission.
| - Customers are aware of and are expected to respect your biosecurity requirements when visiting your property and others.
- You and your staff are aware of your farm’s biosecurity plan and adhere to the requirements and commit to safe on-farm biosecurity practices.
- The likelihood of customers bringing plant pests and diseases onto your property is decreased.
- Keeping customers to designated areas and pathways on your property decreases the likelihood of the spread of pests and diseases within your property.
- Being vigilant for signs of pests and diseases reduces the likelihood of pests and diseases becoming established on your property.
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NOT meeting your GBD
Below are SOME EXAMPLES that show how NOT taking action to meet your GBD can have negative outcomes.
- Although you suspect the presence of a pest or disease, you allow customers to access production areas and allow the pick your own activities to continue.
| - If your customers are not aware of your farm’s biosecurity requirements, they may inadvertently introduce pests and diseases on to your farm and others.
- With no biosecurity plan in place, you and your staff are not following safe biosecurity practices and are less prepared in the event of a biosecurity emergency event.
- The establishment of certain pests and diseases may result in a major disruption to production in Tasmania, as well as international market access and fruit or vegetable exports being suspended.
- You may face legal proceedings, especially if significant biosecurity pests or diseases are not reported.
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What you can do to meet your GBD
Whether you have a small or large scale pick your own fruit or vegetable business, it is your general biosecurity duty (GBD) to educate yourself on minimising the risk of pests and diseases becoming established. Developing a farm
biosecurity plan is a key step in managing the biosecurity risks associated with the movement of people, plants and equipment onto, off and within your farm. It is also a good way to educate staff and visitors on the importance of biosecurity. There are many online resources to assist with this - the
Farm Biosecurity website is a great starting point.
Know your GBD - Related GBD Profiles
Please note that this information contains minimum recommendations only. The GBD requires a person dealing with biosecurity matter or a carrier to take all reasonable and practicable measures to prevent, eliminate or minimise any biosecurity risk associated with the dealing. Such measures may not be specified in any regulations, guidelines or other official publications.