The Panama TR4 Control program has made some progress in recent weeks with surveillance rolling out in the Tully Valley, and a meeting with key leaders from DAF~.

With the Authorised Officer status of our surveillance staff, some additional administrative requirements are being addressed, particularly around grower data privacy. BQ have started distributing letters to growers to gain individual informed consent for their information to be released to the ABGC in the post transition phase of the project. When
growers return the signed letter, ABGC surveillance staff are activated to get boots-on-ground.

More letters will go out to other areas in a staged approach, so all growers are asked to keep an eye their PO boxes.

ABGC’s TR4 Strategy team* and ABGC Deputy Chair Stephen Lowe met with DAF~. Talks were about obstacles faced by industry for an efficient and effective transition process, along with solutions to enable better implementation of the project.

~ Director General (DG) Chris Serra, and Deputy Director General (DDG)/Chief Biosecurity Officer (CBO) Rachel Chay.

*ABGC’s TR4 Strategy team includes myself; TR4 Program Manager, Geoff Wilson; and Industry Strategy Manager, Michelle McKinlay.