Australia's multi-billion dollar thoroughbred breeding industry is under threat from skyrocketing quarantine and freight costs stemming from the 2007 horse flu outbreak, reports ABC News.It says: The 2007 outbreak forced the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) to spend millions upgrading its quarantine stations. As a result, daily quarantine fees have risen from $64 to $290 a day, and could be as much as $500 if horse numbers are down.Thoroughbred Breeders Australia president Pet
Australia's multi-billion dollar thoroughbred breeding industry is under threat from skyrocketing quarantine and freight costs stemming from the 2007 horse flu outbreak, reports ABC News.
It says: The 2007 outbreak forced the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) to spend millions upgrading its quarantine stations. As a result, daily quarantine fees have risen from $64 to $290 a day, and could be as much as $500 if horse numbers are down.
Thoroughbred Breeders Australia president Peter McGauran, who was the former agriculture minister, says that could stop people bringing brood mares to Australia. "This is a very serious issue. Since the outbreak of equine influenza, AQIS has moved to full cost recovery," he said. "They are not just thoroughbreds, but also all horses, the full cost of their treatment, so the cost of importation has risen exponentially."
Mr McGauran is also concerned horses are still prevented from coming to Australia directly from Japan. But he says while the price hikes are concerning, at least the quarantine service has lifted its game.
"The Eastern Creek facility, from which EI (equine influenza) so negligently and even criminally negligently escaped in 2007, has been turned into Fort Knox," he said. "There's extraordinary ... measures about entry and exit and security."