An industry-level analysis of potential intangible and economic impacts affecting Australian pork producers during an emergency animal disease control program

Abstract

Emerging and transboundary diseases have been responsible for dramatic impacts on human health, the economy, trade, animal health and biodiversity in Australia and around the world. The Australian pig industry’s health status provides it with a competitive advantage. Freedom from major transboundary diseases – such as foot-and-mouth disease and classical swine fever – secures access to international markets and enables producers to invest in their businesses free from the complication of major disease incursions, ensures the industry’s future sustainability and allows it to meet community standards for food production. Planning for a disease response is driven by many factors. Among these factors, the cost of the response is often the single most important driving factor. However, cost involves more than the actual financial cost of the response. It involves a number of intangible elements and the views of a diverse range of stakeholders. For example, human health, environmental and sociological consequences need to be considered. Currently, a unifying framework for such decision-making is unavailable. Application of a newly developed framework to several diseases that concern the Australian pig industry will facilitate dialogue on what is the best response to minimize the impact of incursions of such diseases. This novel framework for economic analysis of animal health emergencies incorporates risk assessment, tangible and intangible elements and a value-added cost-benefit analysis. These case studies assess the comparability, applicability and accountability of different response actions through producer perspectives. An example of the application of this framework for a disease which threatens the Australian pig industry will be presented