Simulation exercise: Biosecurity emergency in Australia

Dr Mark Schipp, Chief Veterinary Officer, Department of Agriculture and Water Resources, Canberra, Australia, informed the OIE that a simulation exercise named Exercise Border Bridge, will take place in New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland (QLD) from 5 to 9 March 2018. Exercise Border Bridge aims to advance Australia’s capability to respond to a nationally significant cross border biosecurity emergency and strengthen partnerships with biosecurity stakeholders.

The objectives for the exercise are to:

• Assess the ability of NSW and QLD to jointly respond to a biosecurity incident that impacts both jurisdictions.
• Assess each jurisdiction’s ability to use their new biosecurity legislation in response to a cross border biosecurity incident.
• Assess response requirements for a joint cross border biosecurity response.
• Identify, explore and resolve issues associated with information management systems, technology and processes in a cross border biosecurity incident.
• Assess ability of the National Biosecurity Response Team (NBRT) to integrate and contribute to a cross border biosecurity response.

The exercise will be a functional exercise that will assess the ability of NSW and QLD to jointly respond to a biosecurity incident simultaneously impacting both jurisdictions. The scenario will be based on a pest and disease incursion – one which affects livestock and the other will be a threat to plant production industries.


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World Animal Health Information and Analysis Department
World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE)
information.dept@oie.int