Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The flowers (not pictured) were on loan from the National Museum of Natural History in Paris

Australian biosecurity officers have destroyed historic plant specimens on loan from France after a paperwork mix-up.

A box of rare daisies from the 1850s had been sent to Brisbane from the National Museum of Natural History in Paris.

But the pressed plant samples were incinerated because accompanying documents were filled out incorrectly.

Australian quarantine authorities have ordered a review into the incident.

The plants were destroyed in March because of missing information such as details of the specimens, they said.

'Highly valuable'

The French museum was upset that the "irreplaceable collection" had been destroyed, said Prof Michelle Waycott, chair of the Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria.

She said the flowers may have come from a habitat that no longer existed.

"Sometimes they [collections] may be the last remaining examples of species," she told the BBC.

"I don't think that was the case in this instance, but they are certainly highly valuable, particularly because they were collected so long ago."

Australia's Department of Agriculture and Water Resources, which oversees biosecurity, has asked for a review.

"The department acknowledges the significant value as a botanical reference collection," a spokesperson told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

"The destruction of the specimens should not have proceeded while communication between the department and the intended recipient was ongoing."</s>A review of Australia's quarantine procedures has been undertaken after historic and valuable plant specimens from France were destroyed by biosecurity officers.

In March, a collection of rare flowering plants sent by the Museum of Natural History in Paris to Queensland's herbarium in Brisbane was incinerated.

Michelle Waycott, who chairs the Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria, said the pressed plant specimens dated back to the mid-1800s.

"They were the first type specimens collected of a species," she said.

"That would be the equivalent of material collected in the Flinders expedition, going and then destroying those.

Ms Waycott said it was the second similar incident in a matter of weeks.

It is understood a collection of lichen specimens from New Zealand's Allan Herbarium destined for the Australian National Herbarium in Canberra was also recently destroyed by biosecurity officers.

"The New Zealand herbaria have now banned sending any specimens to Australia," Ms Waycott said.

She said the French herbarium was also "very unhappy" with the loss of their collection.

"I suspect that they're in the process of banning sending specimens to Australia now," she said.

"They haven't said that officially though, but that would certainly be my response if it was my herbarium this had happened to."

Material destroyed because documents did not comply

It is common practice for herbaria around the world to swap material to help identify and understand plant species.

"We rely on sharing specimens from all over the world to be able to do our science," Ms Waycott said.

"So it may have a major impact on our ability to do our research.

"The fact that it happened twice in the space of a couple of weeks and that they were two separate ports, two separate entry points has us very concerned."

The Federal Department of Agriculture and Water Resources, which controls Australian biosecurity, declined a request for an interview.

However, in a written response, a spokesperson said the material from France which arrived in January was destroyed because the documents it came with did not comply with Australia's import conditions.

The department said the recipient, the Queensland Herbarium, would provide further documentation, but nothing was received until early March after a mix-up over email addresses.

When it did arrive, the additional paperwork also failed to meet Australian biosecurity import requirements and the department said it requested more information.

It was during this period that the collection was incinerated.

'Herbarium specimens are not without biosecurity risk'

While the department said it held the goods for 46 days longer than required, it also said the plants should not have been destroyed when the matter was not resolved.

"The department acknowledges the significant value as a botanical reference collection," a spokesperson said.

A review of the incident has since been carried out by senior staff, with the department implementing several changes to its procedures to improve communication and safeguard items where negotiations are ongoing.

It is meeting with representatives of Australia's herbaria today to discuss the incident and look at ways to improve compliance with biosecurity rules.

"Herbarium specimens are not without biosecurity risk," the department's spokesperson said.

"They can include soil and other items that present a pest and disease risk to Australia."

The department told the ABC it was unaware of the second case involving the destruction of specimens from New Zealand and is investigating the matter.</s>Australian customs officers destroyed “irreplaceable” 19th century plant specimens from the Museum of Natural History in Paris, prompting a review of the government’s apparently overzealous quarantine procedures.

The pressed plant specimens, dating back to the mid-1800s, were being sent on loan to the state of Queensland’s herbarium but were deemed a potential biosecurity threat and incinerated.

Michelle Waycott, from the Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria, said the items were “literally irreplaceable” collections of high historic and scientific value. “They were the first type specimens collected of a species,” she told ABC News.

In a separate incident, Australian customs officers destroyed rare lichen specimens being sent from New Zealand’s Allan Herbarium. The incident prompted the herbarium to ban lending such specimens to Australia.

Prof Waycott said the French were also “very unhappy” about their loss and should be considering a ban. “I suspect they’re in the process of banning sending specimens to Australia,” she said. “That would be my response if it was my herbarium.”

The French and New Zealand institutions were apparently not informed of the decision to destroy the specimens, nor were the Australian scientists due to receive them.

Australia has some of the world’s strictest quarantine and biosecurity laws, and they are strictly enforced. This became apparent when the government threatened to “euthanize” two pet dogs belonging to the actor Johnny Depp and his former wife Amber Heard after the dogs were brought to Australia without permission. Barnaby Joyce, the deputy prime minister and the man who made the threat, insisted his tough approach sent the message “this is one thing Australians are red hot about, don’t take it as a joke”.

The government appeared to be only marginally more apologetic about its destruction in recent months of the two collections of plant specimens.

The department of agriculture conceded the destruction was “premature”. But it said the packages did not indicate the samples’ value and that customs officials held them for 46 days longer than required. A department spokesman said French authorities failed to disclose information such as “a listing of the specimens, botanical nomenclature, whether the goods were preserved or not”.

“Herbarium specimens are not without biosecurity risk,” the spokesman said. “They can include soil and other items that present a pest and disease risk to Australia.”

The department said it had reviewed the incident and was examining ways to improve communication and safety assessments.</s>Fun fact: Australia's custom officials are known for procedures teetering on the absurdly overzealous, thanks to the continent's unique natural environment.

But those procedures are under investigation, after officials destroyed "irreplaceable" rare flowering plants sent from France. "They were the first type specimens collected of a species," Michelle Waycott, chair at the Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria, told ABC News.

"That would be the equivalent of material collected in the Flinders expedition, going and then destroying those. So literally irreplaceable collections and of high historic and scientific value."

D'oh! These border officials have absolutely zero chill.

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The plant samples from the Museum of Natural History in Paris dated back to the mid-1800s. It was intended for the Queensland Herbarium, but was destroyed due to paperwork issues in March.

In a statement via email, the Department of Agriculture acknowledged "the intrinsic value of the specimens," and conceded that its destruction was "premature."

Once the plants were detained, the Queensland Herbarium sent correspondence to an incorrect email address. Ugh. When their information was eventually received, it was not sufficient, and the plants were destroyed in line with policy. RIP, rare flowering plants.

A "comprehensive review of this incident" will be undertaken by the department to prevent a similar situation from occurring again. "This is a deeply regrettable occurrence, but it does highlight the importance of the shared responsibility of Australia's biosecurity system, and the need for adherence to import conditions," according to the statement.

In a similar incident, New Zealand's Landcare Research Allan Herbarium loaned lichen samples collected in the 1930s to the Australian National Herbarium last year. The loan was to see if lichen found in both countries were similar, but the sample was destroyed by border officials in Sydney.

The incident prompted the Allan Herbarium from stopping further samples being sent to Australia until assurances of its safe arrival are made in writing.

The department said it was "unaware of this incident," however it is "investigating it as a matter of priority."

WATCH: This 3D-printed corset could help people with severe back conditions</s>Australian quarantine officials have acknowledged that they reacted a bit too hastily when they destroyed a rare, centuries-old collection of plants from France due to paperwork problems.

The Museum of Natural History in Paris sent the flowering plant specimens to a research center in Australia's Queensland state. When the plants arrived in Australia in January, officials determined that the accompanying paperwork failed to comply with the country's notoriously strict quarantine rules. Quarantine authorities then tried to get proper documentation from the Queensland Herbarium, but before they could, biosecurity officers destroyed the plants, the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources said in a statement Tuesday.

Michelle Waycott, who heads the Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that the specimens dated back to the mid-1800s and were irreplaceable.

Australia has some of the world's toughest quarantine regulations in a bid to keep pests and diseases from infiltrating its isolated borders and destroying the country's unique wildlife. The strict quarantine policies captured global attention in 2015, when Johnny Depp and his then-wife, Amber Heard, were accused of illegally bringing their pet Yorkshire Terriers into Australia, where Depp was working on a movie.

According to the agriculture department, the plants arrived in early January with a declared value of 2 Australian dollars ($1.50) and no indication of their significance. The attached documents failed to include information such as what the specimens were and whether they were preserved, so the department held onto the package while officials worked to get those details. The Queensland Herbarium then called the department saying it would provide the additional documentation, but didn't do so until March 3.

Those documents were still deemed insufficient, so the department said it requested more information. By the end of March, no further documents had arrived and the plants were thus destroyed, the department said.

The agriculture department said it hung onto the plant specimens for 46 days longer than what is normally required while officials worked to sort out the documentation. But the agency conceded that destroying the plants was "premature," given that officials and the herbarium were still working to sort out the issue.

Officials at the Queensland Herbarium declined to comment.

The department said it had conducted a review and would take steps to avoid such an incident from happening again.</s>Australian biosecurity officers accidentally destroyed valuable flower specimens from the mid-1800s after a paperwork mix-up. An “irreplaceable collection” of daisies from the 1850s on loan to Queensland’s herbarium in Brisbane was incinerated in March because the shipping documents were not filled out correctly. Australian officials said the paperwork failed to meet the country’s import requirements and…</s>SYDNEY, May 8 (Reuters) - Australian customs officials destroyed two irreplaceable plant specimens that were being loaned to scientists by international institutions, prompting the agriculture department to concede that some missteps had occurred enforcing strict quarantine laws. France's National Museum of Natural History and New Zealand's Landcare Research Allan Herbarium had sent the samples of lichen specimens, which dated back to the 19th Century, to Australia to help research, but they were intercepted by customs officers due to inaccurate paperwork.

A spokesman for the Department of Agriculture said the packages did not give any indication of the intrinsic value of the samples, and the customs officers held onto them for longer than they were required before deciding they posed a potential biosecurity threat and incinerating them.

"The department concedes the unintentionally proceeding with destruction of the specimens was premature," a spokesperson for the Australian government department said in an emailed statement.

"But it does highlight the importance of the shared responsibility of Australia´s biosecurity system, and the need for adherence to import conditions."

Neither the French or New Zealand institutions were informed of the decision to destroy their lichen. Nor were the Australian scientists who were due to receive the samples. Normally a sender or recipient would be informed if there was a threat to destroy imported items.

Michelle Waycott, professor of plant systematic at the University of Adelaide and chair of the Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria, said the specimens were set to be used to determine whether new plant species had been discovered in Australia.

"These specimens are also the last remaining evidence that they were present in a particular location," said Waycott.

New Zealand's Allan Herbarium has suspended all transfers to Australian scientists, until it can be sure that they can be safely received, Waycott said.

The agriculture department has started a review into its procedures, according to the spokesman.

Australia's border security laws are among the world's toughest, being designed to protect its island ecosystem from exotic pests and diseases.

Australia's agricultural exports, worth a record A$45 billion ($33.31 billion) are also threatened by invasive species.</s>A leading government conservative has put a question mark over Australia’s continued participation in the Paris climate agreement in the event Donald Trump decides the United States will pull out.



The assistant minister for social services and multicultural affairs, Zed Seselja, one of the government’s up-and-coming conservative figures, told Sky News on Monday that “as it stands” the Turnbull government was committed to Paris agreement, but if the US quit the pact, that would change the nature of the agreement.

He added Canberra was currently “doing more than our share, in my opinion”.

Seselja said Australia was committed to the Paris agreement and had put forward targets. “They are strong measures: 26-28% [in greenhouse gas reductions]. So we are doing more than our share, in my opinion,” he said Monday.



Asked about what would happen if Trump followed through with his campaign threat to pull out, Seselja said: “When it comes to the US’s position that is a matter for the new US administration.”

The Coalition frontbencher said if America withdrew, that would change the nature of the agreement. “Obviously you wouldn’t want to speculate, but if they were to pull out obviously that would change the nature of that agreement.

“But as it stands, the Australian government is committed to the Paris agreement.”

Trump is believed to be close to making a decision about whether to stay the course on the Paris agreement or pull out. The president has previously promised to “cancel” the deal, but reports suggest his advisers are split over whether quitting the compact would be worth the resulting diplomatic fallout.

The president has already signed a new executive order to unravel a number of Barack Obama’s regulatory measures to combat climate change, including eliminating the clean power plan, which sets limits on the amount of greenhouse gases that power plants emit.

Seselja’s comments on Monday follow an earlier public warning from the chair of the Turnbull government’s backbench committee on environment and energy, fellow conservative, Craig Kelly.

Kelly said Australia would need to review its participation in the Paris agreement on climate change if Trump pulled out.

Asked a month ago whether a majority of his Coalition colleagues would be in favour of quitting the Paris deal in the event Trump pulled out, Kelly told Guardian Australia “it would be a close run thing”.

If Trump withdraws, it would embolden conservative MPs to reopen a deeply contentious issue within Coalition ranks.

The Turnbull government has been attempting to hold the line on the Paris deal, arguing once Australia makes a commitment to a global deal, it follows through.

The prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, told reporters last November, on the day the Australian government ratified the Paris accord, that Australia would stay the course.

He indicated it would take the US four years to withdraw from the agreement after ratification in the event Washington resolved to quit.
Rare specimens of daisies from the 1850s originally held in the National Museum of Natural History in Paris were reportedly destroyed by Australia in March allegedly due to incomplete paperwork.