MPSC terms of reference

For the Marine Pest Sectoral Committee.

The Marine Pest Sectoral Committee will:

1. Support the national biosecurity institutional arrangements by providing expert scientific, technical and policy advice on marine pest related biosecurity issues to the National Biosecurity Committee, including impacts on the environment.
   
   1. For example continued development implementation and review of the National System for the prevention and management of marine pest incursions (the National System).
   2. Maintain and review the National Consultative Committee on Introduced Marine Pest Emergencies (CCIMPE) Trigger List as appropriate.
2. Deliver on priority areas as determined and/or tasked by the NBC including those needed for the implementation of the Intergovernmental Agreement on Biosecurity (IGAB).
3. Take a proactive approach to develop, coordinate, implement and monitor national activities to address marine pest related biosecurity issues including, but not limited to
   
   1. prevention, preparedness and containment activities for marine pest incursions,
   2. marine pest monitoring to assist in risk assessment, detection of new incursions or spread of existing introduced marine pests, and control programs
   3. implementation of arrangements to improve the national capacity to respond to outbreaks of introduced marine pests, noting that the response to all marine pest emergencies is a cooperative approach between the Australian, state and Northern Territory Governments under the National Environmental Biosecurity Response Agreement (NEBRA)
   4. education and training to support operation of the National System for the Prevention and Management of Marine Pest Incursions (the National System)
   5. encourage and support the conduct of targeted research to underpin policy and management initiatives.
4. Engage stakeholders in the development and implementation of national activities, including but not limited to policies, programs, standards, operational strategies and the implementation of the National System such as:
   
   1. national communication and awareness activities to promote behaviour change through stakeholder and public participation in and support for the National System
   2. structured stakeholder workshop(s) held in conjunction with committee meetings to discuss and consult on relevant issues, noting it is expected that when developing marine pest policy and approaches that jurisdictions engage jurisdictional stakeholders prior to bringing these approaches to the national committee.
5. Work with the NBC Secretariat to maintain appropriate linkages with other sectoral committees to ensure there is no duplication of work or gaps in coverage across sectors.

In addressing these terms of reference, the Committee will:

1. Oversee the implementation of the National System
2. Implement mechanisms to facilitate consultation with stakeholders (including industry) on policies, programs, standards, operational strategies and the implementation of the National System
3. As required, establish working groups to progress specific work items
4. Receive reports from and provide reports to the Consultative Committee on Introduced Marine Pest Emergencies
5. Agree to a Strategic Work Plan, to be reviewed formally every 12 months with progress reviewed as a standing item at each meeting
6. Provide regular reports to NBC (including the strategic work plan)
7. Notify the NBC, through the NBC Secretariat, if work priorities change significantly from that outlined in the approved work plan or if any issues impact on their ability to progress the work plan as approved
8. Develop and adhere to the Committee’s Standard Operating Guidelines based on the Principles to Underpin the Administrative and Operational Arrangements of Sectoral Committees
9. Agree that each jurisdiction is required to fund its own attendance at committee and working group meetings
10. Recognise previous decisions made by the National Introduced Marine Pest Coordination Group, National Biosecurity Committee, Primary Industries Standing Committee, Primary Industries Ministerial Council and Natural Resource Management Ministerial Council and use these decisions to guide and progress future work items
11. Be supported by a Secretariat provided by the Australian Government.

For the purposes of the Committee:

• Australia’s marine environment is broadly defined as the coastal seas, estuarine waters and marine waterways adjacent to the Australian shoreline and extending to the continental shelf and Australia’s external territories.
• Marine pests are vertebrate and invertebrate (including seaweed, algae and haloplankton) pest species that complete the full or majority of their lifecycle in marine (salinity 35ppt) or brackish (1-29ppt) waters. There may be some ability to survive in freshwater, but generally marine waters are required to reproduce and for long-term survival.