Food & Nutrition Security – The Biosecurity, Health, Trade Nexus

13-14 December 2021, Canberra

Chris Dale

International Biosecurity Specialist, Agriculture and Food Security Section, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Chris Dale is the International Biosecurity Specialist, Agriculture and Food Security Section, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and formerly Assistant Director of Plant Health Surveillance and Diagnostics within the Australian Department of Agriculture, Water, and the Environment (DAWE). Chris has over 20 years of technical and operational experience within the Department, delivering animal and plant biosecurity programs across Northern Australia, the Torres Straits, Timor-Leste, PNG, Solomon Islands and South East Asia. Chris is also the Vice Chair of the Implementation and Capacity Development Committee of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) and represents the committee and Australia within the Asia Pacific Plant Protection Commission (APPPC) and Pacific Plant Protection Organisation (PPPO). Chris is also a member of the FAO Fall Armyworm Technical Committee, Chair of the FAO/IPPC Fall Armyworm Technical Working Group, and technical lead of the DFAT/DAWE International Agricultural Biosecurity Technical Working Group (IAB-TWG), supporting biosecurity preparedness and response initiatives across the Asia Pacific Region.

The battle against Fall Armyworm

Rapid-Fire Case Study

ABSTRACT

Biosecurity is a shared responsibility. The coordination of biosecurity efforts at a national level has its challenges. The coordination of biosecurity efforts at a global and regional level across geographical, political, and institutional boundaries presents an even greater challenge. This presentation will provide an overview of recent collaborative efforts of international organisations, regional plant protection bodies, and technical specialists to coordinate biosecurity initiatives to help countries prevent, prepare, and respond to biosecurity threats across the Asia Pacific region.

Biosecurity pest threats such as the Fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) have caused devastating impact upon agricultural sectors at a global level in recent years and are threatening the biosecurity status of our near neighbour and pacific island countries as they move via natural and trade pathways through the region. Agricultural production and food trade needs to continue for economic and food security reasons but requires coordination and collaboration at a global, regional, and national level to support local biosecurity systems.

Global and regional level biosecurity programs such as the FAO Global Action for Fall Armyworm Control, the ASEAN Fall Armyworm Control Plan, and the DFAT/DAWE Pacific Biosecurity Partnership Program are coordinating the mobilization of technical, operational, academic, research and communication expertise and resources in a collaborative effort to battle the spread and impact of the Fall Armyworm across the region. These initiatives are not only providing technical and operational support to biosecurity agencies through the development of regionally and globally consistent Fall Armyworm resources, but they are also supporting livelihoods at the village, grower, and commercial level through the implementation of globally harmonised preparedness, response, and management initiatives.