Biosecurity Advisory 43/2022 - General Biosecurity Regulations 2022

Biosecurity Advisory 43/2022 - General Biosecurity Regulations 2022

​Tasmania’s reputation as a premium producer of agricultural and seafood products, and as a leading tourism destination is reliant on a rigorous and effective biosecurity system.

The landmark Biosecurity Act 2019 (the Act) represented one of the most significant reforms of Tasmania’s primary industry and environmental laws in decades and will replace seven separate and out-dated Acts into a single, modern, ‘fit-for-purpose’ piece of legislation.

The Biosecurity Regulations 2022​ (the Regulations), which come into effect on 2​ November, complete the implementation of the Act and are the last step in ensuring Tasmania has modern biosecurity laws capable of progressing the Tasmanian Biosecurity Strategy. Public consultation on the draft Regulations took place during April and May this year.

The Regulations provide the regulatory framework for the Act, by translating the technical requirements under other existing pieces of legislation and aligning them with the relevant sections of the Act.

The new Regulations provide more flexibility to deliver tailor-made solutions for managing specific issues and challenges, enabling faster and more effective management of biosecurity risks now and into the future.

One of the key features of the new Regulations will help protect Tasmania’s beekeeper sector from biological threats such as varroa mite, by making it compulsory for all beekeepers, including recreational beekeepers to be registered. Extensive consultation on compulsory beekeeper registration took place in earlier this year and throughout late 2021. Compulsory beekeeper registration will come into effect before the end of this year and will be free initially.

Beekeepers are encouraged to familiarise themselves with the conditions of registration before the compulsory registration comes into effect. Information can be found on the NRE Tasmania website https://nre.tas.gov.au/biosecu...

For more information please refer to the Biosecurity Regulations 2022 or NRE at https://nre.tas.gov.au/