A major market has simply closed its door
When two wild seabirds off the Western Australian coast tested positive for H5N1 avian influenza, Papua New Guinea — Australia's largest poultry customer — chose precaution over protocol, suspending all imports of Australian chicken and eggs effective June 22. The move is striking because Australia retains its internationally recognised disease-free status for commercial poultry, yet PNG has decided that proximity to the virus in any form is risk enough. It is a reminder that in matters of biosecurity, the fear of contagion can travel faster than the disease itself, and that trade relationships rest on confidence as much as compliance.
- PNG has shut its border to all Australian chicken meat, eggs, and egg products — a sudden closure of the country's single largest poultry export market.
- Consignments already in transit face the humiliating prospect of being turned away at PNG customs and shipped back to Australia, compounding financial losses.
- Australia's official HPAI-free status, recognised by the World Organisation for Animal Health, has offered no diplomatic shield against PNG's unilateral precautionary decision.
- Surveillance is widening urgently along a stretch of coastline from Geraldton to South Australia, as authorities race to map how far H5N1 has spread through wild bird populations.
- DAFF is in active negotiations with PNG to restore trade, but no timeline or resolution pathway has emerged, leaving exporters in a state of open-ended uncertainty.
Papua New Guinea has suspended all imports of Australian poultry and eggs after H5N1 bird flu was confirmed in two wild seabirds off the Western Australian coast — a brown skua found on June 14 and a giant petrel that tested positive shortly after. PNG's quarantine authority notified Canberra on Monday that the ban would take effect immediately, closing what is Australia's largest poultry export market without warning.
The disruption is immediate and tangible. Australia's Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry announced it would no longer issue export health certificates for PNG-bound poultry products made on or after June 22. Consignments already in transit may be rejected at the border and returned, a logistical and financial blow for exporters who had no time to adjust.
What makes the situation particularly pointed is that Australia has not lost its official disease-free status. The World Organisation for Animal Health still classifies Australia as free from high pathogenicity avian influenza in commercial operations — the virus has appeared only in wild migratory birds, entirely outside the farm and processing supply chain. By international standards, Australian poultry remains safe to trade.
PNG has chosen a different calculus. The presence of H5N1 in any Australian wildlife, however distant from commercial production, was enough to close the gate. Meanwhile, urgent testing is underway across more than a dozen seabirds along a stretch of coastline from Geraldton to South Australia's southern coast, as authorities work to understand the virus's reach through wild populations. Each new positive result risks prompting other trading partners to follow PNG's lead.
Australian officials say they are actively engaging with PNG to resolve the impasse, but there is no clear timeline and no guaranteed path back to normal trade. For now, the industry's largest customer has walked away, and the industry is watching to see who might be next.
Papua New Guinea, which buys more Australian chicken than any other country, has stopped accepting shipments of poultry and eggs. The decision came after H5N1 bird flu was confirmed in two wild seabirds off the Western Australian coast—a brown skua discovered on June 14 and a giant petrel that tested positive days later. PNG's National Agriculture and Quarantine Inspection Authority notified the Australian government on Monday that the ban would take effect immediately, halting all chicken meat, eggs, and egg products at the border.
The suspension creates an immediate problem for Australian exporters. The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry announced Tuesday that export health certificates for poultry products made on or after June 22 would no longer be issued for PNG. Worse, consignments already in transit or sitting in warehouses may be turned away at PNG customs and forced back to Australia. The timing is brutal: a major market has simply closed its door.
What makes PNG's move particularly striking is that Australia technically retains its official disease-free status. The World Organisation for Animal Health, the international body that sets these standards, still classifies Australia as free from high pathogenicity avian influenza in commercial poultry operations. The virus has appeared only in wild migratory birds—not in farms, not in processing facilities, not anywhere in the commercial supply chain. By international standards, Australia should still be safe to trade.
But PNG is not waiting for international standards to catch up to its own risk assessment. The country has decided that the presence of H5N1 in any Australian wildlife is reason enough to lock the gate. It is a precautionary move, and it is economically consequential. Australia's poultry industry now faces uncertainty about when—or if—that market will reopen.
Meanwhile, the search for the virus continues. More than a dozen seabirds from Geraldton in Western Australia down to South Australia's southern coast are undergoing urgent testing. The two confirmed cases near Esperance have triggered a wider surveillance effort, with authorities trying to understand how far the virus has spread through wild bird populations. Each positive test narrows the window for reassurance and widens the window for more countries to follow PNG's lead.
The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry says it is actively engaging with PNG to resolve the impasse. But there is no timeline for resolution, no clear pathway back to normal trade. For now, Australian poultry exporters are watching their largest customer walk away, and waiting to see whether other buyers will follow.
Notable Quotes
The detection in wild birds does not change Australia's current HPAI freedom status and we remain free from HPAI in poultry in accordance with WOAH international standards— Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why would PNG ban Australian poultry when the virus is only in wild birds, not in farms?
Because PNG is making its own risk calculation. They're not bound by what the World Organisation for Animal Health says about Australia's official status. They see H5N1 in the country and they're saying no—not worth the chance.
But doesn't that hurt PNG? They need Australian chicken.
It does hurt them. But from their perspective, a temporary shortage is better than the possibility of the virus getting into their own poultry industry. Once it's in your commercial flocks, you're looking at massive culls, export bans on your own products, economic devastation.
So this is about fear, not science?
It's about precaution. The science says Australia is still disease-free in poultry. But PNG is saying the science doesn't matter if the virus is circulating nearby. They're choosing the safer path, even if it costs them.
What happens to Australian exporters in the meantime?
They're stuck. Shipments already made might be rejected. New certificates won't be issued. They're losing their biggest customer with no clear end date. And if other countries start doing the same thing, it gets much worse.
Will this change Australia's bird flu response?
Probably. This is the real cost of the virus—not just the seabirds that die, but the trade relationships that freeze up when fear takes over.