Within the national framework for biosecurity, all commonwealth and state governments and plant industries who are signatories to the Emergency Plant Pest Response Deed (EPPRD) formally commit to preparations that include; surveillance for key biosecurity risks, a chain of command for reporting suspected incursions, decision making processes for responding to confirmed incursions and industry recovery from confirmed incursions.

Cotton Australia is the cotton industry member of Plant Health Australia Ltd. and signatory to the Emergency Plant Pest Response Deed. The EPPRD specifically requires signatories to undertake information and awareness of EPPRD requirements with their members to demonstrate response preparedness. This can be reported in the signatory annual Biosecurity Statement (Schedule 15).

During the 2008-13 CRDC Strategic Plan, CRDC worked with industry and state governments to implement routine surveillance for exotic diseases and commence the development of contingency planning for specific, high risk exotic incursions for industry to implement if the situations eventuate. State governments have instigated 'biosecurity training' for their research staff to increase researcher awareness of processes for reporting and responding to suspected and confirmed incursions.

The industry needed to do the same, creating a network of human capacity at the grass roots of the industry - growers and their RDOs, consultants and Cotton Australia Regional Managers - that are aware of the role they may play in an incursion event. The thinking and decisions taken in the early stages of an incursion may be critical in determining the feasibility of an eradication response.

This project undertook to raise grower and consultant awareness and knowledge of the processes that will occur in the event that a cotton biosecurity incursion is confirmed.