"Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress, in every society, in every family." - Kofi Annan
18 October 2019 

TCO Gazette Links

News Headlines

African Swine Fever Prevention
Ports are on high alert in preparation for African swine fever. With ports and airports at the front line of defence against diseases, the Queensland government had been developing prevention and preparedness strategies for over a year in relation to African swine fever.

In a statement issued this week, Mr Furner rallied those on the front line against this disease.

“No treatment or vaccine is available and, if African swine fever becomes established in Queensland it will be difficult to eradicate, significantly impacting pig health and production,” the minister said.

“I therefore welcome the Commonwealth government lately putting a detector dog at Darwin,” he said.

“The greatest risk of introduction is from people illegally bringing pork or pork products into Australia from overseas and these being fed to or eaten by pigs.

“Recent detections of ASF virus fragments in meat confiscated at Australian airports and mail centres by the federal Department of Agriculture highlight the very real risk of possible entry through passenger movements and mail.”

Federal agriculture minister Bridget McKenzie this week confirmed a Vietnamese citizen had been deported for not declaring 4.5kg of pork at an Australian airport.

Mr Furner said African swine fever was an insidious disease which, in its most severe form, could affect and kill up to 100% of pigs.

“It’s estimated that by the end of 2019 up to a quarter of the world’s pigs may be lost as a result of African swine fever and there is no doubt this disease poses a significant threat to Queensland’s pig industry,” he said.


Detector Dog Program Turn 50
The Detector Dog Program run by the Australian Border Force has reached its 50th birthday. The program has grown from humble beginnings with two Labrador retrievers,Captain and Lady in Sydney back in 1969.

The first detector dogs were trained to detect drugs, but half a century later 60 detector dog teams across the nation are dedicated to detecting drugs, guns, explosives, currency, and tobacco.

The ABF Detector Dog Program is continuing to develop and in the 2018-2019 financial year had more than 800 illicit narcotic detections and detected more than $7m of undeclared currency and interdicted over four tonnes of tobacco products in air and sea cargo. Operations include mass screening of cargo as well as passengers, postal items and arriving vessels and aircraft.

“We are very proud of all the ABF and Customs staff who have helped create our world-class Detector Dog Program and I congratulate all those who have contributed to the protection of our borders for the past 50 years,” said ABF Commissioner Michael Outram APM.

The Detector Dog Program has evolved so much over the decades it has become a world leader in detector dog breeding and training. Our Labrador Retrievers are in high demand from both domestic and international law enforcement agencies including the AFP, Corrective Services, Japan Customs and Singapore Police.

The National Detector Dog Program Facility in Melbourne is built for breeding and training detector dogs and can house up to 200 dogs.


Contaminated Waste Come Back to Australia
It's been reported that Indonesia has returned at least nine containers to Australia in the last month because they contained contaminated waste and could not be recycled. It is believed around 100 containers will be returned in total.

The Australian containers are part of a total of 547 containers that Indonesia has inspected and found to be polluted by so-called B3 waste.

B3 is short for Bahan Berbahaya dan Beracun and includes medical waste and materials that could be explosive, inflammable, reactive, infectious or corrosive.

“We don’t want Indonesia to become a dumping ground for scrap waste,” Indonesian environment department spokesperson Ahmad Gunarwan said.

Indonesia plans to return contaminated plastic waste to several other countries including the United States, Spain, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Greece, the Netherlands, Slovenia, New Zealand and China.

Director-general of customs Heru Pambugi said three companies “had been found to have imported plastic waste mixed with rubbish and B3 waste”.

“One of the companies did not have the required documents to import the containers”.

Back in August, the Morrison government announced it was working on a plan to ban all domestic waste exports, including plastics, paper, glass and tyres.


First Reefer Unit Controlled via Wireless Capability
Thanks to Carrier Transicold's new Micro-Link® 5 controller, the industry’s first container refrigeration unit controller with wireless connection, shipping lines can now monitor and access container refrigeration unit operations from a smartphone or tablet.

The Micro-Link 5 controller allows personnel to interface with refrigerated containers via Carrier Transicold’s new DataLINE Connect™ app for mobile devices without any physical contact with the refrigeration unit itself. That means operators standing dockside or on a ship deck can securely monitor temperature readings, check alerts, review diagnostics and download data from nearby Carrier Transicold refrigerated containers, even if the containers are stacked high above.

“This represents a major leap in visibility, accessibility and functionality compared to traditional controls,” Willy Yeo, director of marketing, Carrier Transicold, said.

“Wireless technology enables greater and more convenient customer access to their container refrigeration systems for greater productivity. The MicroLink 5 controller offers the potential to support more features and digital offerings.”


IMO2020 - 0.5% Sulphur Emissions Cap
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) – the UN agency responsible for ensuring a clean, safe, and efficient global shipping industry – will be implementing new regulations that will have a massive impact on the shipping industry.

Not surprisingly, the world’s 59,000 transport ships, oil tankers, and cargo ships have a consequential impact on the environment, generating about 90% of all sulfur oxide and dioxide emissions globally. These sulfur emissions can cause several harmful side effects ─ acid rain, smog, crop failures, and many respiratory illnesses such as lung cancer and asthma.

The regulations, dubbed IMO 2020, will enforce a 0.5% sulfur emissions cap worldwide starting January 1, 2020 ─ a dramatic decrease from the current emissions cap of 3.5%. As the implementation date nears, shippers will be forced to take action to become compliant and manage costs. In turn, this will result in surcharges and likely increased freight rates commencing as early as 1/12/2019. Therefore we urge all our clients to plan accordingly for the upcoming silly season as we face together significant implications to our industry and the global economy.


Friday Funnies
A nice old lady on a bus offers the driver some peanuts. He’s happy to take some. He asks her after a while why she isn’t having any herself.
“Oh, young man,” she says, “they’re too hard on my poor teeth, I couldn’t.”
“Why did you buy them at all then?” wonders the driver.
“You see, I just love the chocolate they’re covered in!”


A man asks a farmer near a field, “Sorry sir, would you mind if I crossed your field instead of going around it? You see, I have to catch the 4:23 train.”
The farmer says, “Sure, go right ahead. And if my bull sees you, you’ll even catch the 4:11 one.”


Late one night a robber wearing a mask stopped a well-dressed man and stuck a gun in his ribs. "Give me your money," he demanded. Scandalized, the man replied, "You can’t do this – I’m a US Congressman!" "Oh! In that case," smiled the robber, "Give me MY money!"


The Queen takes the visiting pope for a ride in a carriage through London.
Suddenly one of the horses passes wind very loudly. “I am terribly sorry,” apologizes the embarrassed Queen.
The pope replies, “Oh don’t worry, if you hadn’t said anything, I’d just think it was the horse!”


"Waiter, I’ve seen your thumb dipping right into my soup as you were carrying it over!"
"Thank you for your kind concern, sir, but it’s OK, the soup is only lukewarm."