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International Task Force Entry Conditions

Quarantine

Australia has a unique ecosystem that supports a variety of fauna and flora that is only found in Australia. Due to its geographic position, Australia remains free of many exotic diseases and pests that plague other countries.
Because Urban Search and Rescue taskforces are exposed to foreign soil, plant and animal matter when conducting search and rescue operations, deployment can pose a quarantine risk to Australia through the movement of contaminated equipment and personal effects providing a route for the entry of exotic pests and disease. Such introduced pests and diseases could cause irreparable damage to the Australian ecosystem affecting public health, agriculture, native species and the environment. Inspections of equipment and personal effects conducted by the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) reduces the risk of introducing foreign environmental, agricultural and health threats into Australia.

Full documentation for AQIS guidelines

Customs

Customs plays a vital role in protecting Australia's borders from the entry of illegal and harmful goods and unauthorised people, whilst also ensuring that the legitimate movement of people and goods across the border is not unnecessarily impeded.
 
The three principle roles of Customs are:

  1. To facilitate trade and the movement of people across the Australian border while protecting the community and maintaining compliance with Australian law.
  2. To collect customs revenue efficiently.
  3. To administer specific industry schemes and trade measures. 

Customs works closely with other government and international agencies, in particular the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service, the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs and the Department of Defence to detect and deter unlawful movement of goods and people across the border. The main mechanism whereby Customs fulfils the cross-border requirements of other agencies, is through ensuring clients comply with all necessary permits. Customs regulates and processes the importing and exporting of cargo (encompassing other agencies reporting requirements) via electronic reporting systems.
 
Customs works under a legislative framework that is administered by a range of government agencies. The main pieces of legislation that affect the guidelines and recommendations in this report are listed below:

Customs, in cooperation with EMA, has developed Guidelines and Recommendations for Emergency Management Australia and USAR teams. Information on how these guidelines affect USAR teams and taskforces can be obtained by emailing usar@ema.gov.au

Immigration 

International USAR Taskforces entering Australia are required to complete a personnel manifest prior to departing their own country. This manifest is to be faxed back to the EMA Duty Officer so that immigration issues can be resolved prior to arrival.

EMA will also post a copy of this document on the Virtual OSOCC if a request for assistance is communicated through this forum.

The personnel manifest also contains information for incoming teams to fill out which will allow Australia to meet its requesting country criteria.

This information provided has been developed in conjunction with the National Urban Search and Rescue Working Group.