Department Of Agriculture Fisheries And Forestry Australian Government

The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Forestry (DAFF) was an Australian government department that existed between 1998 and 2013, when it was renamed the Department of Agriculture. DAFF’s role was to develop and implement policies and programs that ensure Australia’s agricultural, fisheries, food, and forestry industries remain competitive, profitable, and sustainable.

DAFF policies and programs were to:

encourage and support sustainable natural resource use and management
protect the health and safety of plant and animal industries
enable industries to adapt to compete in a fast-changing international and economic environment
help improve market access and market performance for the agricultural and food sector
encourage and assist industries to adopt new technology and practices
assist primary producers and the food industry to develop business and marketing skills, and to be financially self-reliant.

Scope

DAFF facilitated the development of self-reliant, profitable, competitive, and sustainable Australian farm businesses and industries. Through consultation with the industry, DAFF developed and implemented policies and programs that helped to assure product safety and integrity. Particular emphasis was placed on on-farm risk management that related to food safety.

Divisions which fell within the broader department included: Sustainable Resource Management (Fisheries), Climate Change (Drought Assistance, Australia’s Farming Future, Forestry), Agricultural Productivity (FarmReady, Animal Welfare, Crops Horticulture & Wine, Food), and Trade & Market Access (Free Trade Agreements). DAFF’s Biosecurity function, which was previously performed by AQIS, managed quarantine controls at Australia’s borders to minimize the risk of exotic pests and diseases entering the country. DAFF also provided import and export inspection and certification to help retain Australia’s highly favorable animal, plant, and human health status and wide access to overseas export markets.

At its creation, the department dealt with the following principal matters:

Agricultural, pastoral, fishing, food, and forest industries
Water, soils, and other natural resources
Rural adjustment and drought issues
Rural industries inspection and quarantine
Primary industries research including economic research
Commodity marketing, including export promotion end agribusiness
Commodity-specific international organizations and activities
Administration of international commodity agreements
Administration of export controls on agricultural, fisheries, and forestry industries products
Food policy, processing, and exports

Biosecurity role

DAFF managed quarantine controls at Australia’s borders to minimize the risk of exotic pests and diseases entering the country. DAFF also provided import and export inspection and certification to help retain Australia’s highly favorable animal, plant, and human health status and wide access to overseas export markets.

DAFF continuously looked to improve the effectiveness of the quarantine effort by working closely with other areas within DAFF to manage Australia’s biosecurity system. The Department also worked closely with other Australian Government agencies – such as Australian Customs and Border Protection Service, Department of Health and Ageing, Food Standards Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ) and state/territory governments – to support their management of post–border detections and incursions of quarantine pests and diseases, and to support our own verification and certification activities for agriculture and food products