Senators investigating an outbreak of white spot disease which crippled Queensland's multi-million dollar prawn industry have expressed concerns about how long it took authorities to respond.
The Senate committee handed down an interim report on Thursday, asking to extend its reporting date until December so it can further examine the outbreak, which emerged in southern Queensland's Logan River in late 2016.
The committee said it asked extensive questions of department officials to find out who knew what and when about the outbreak "without a clear response".
"The committee remains very concerned that white spot was detected in Australia during 2016, and yet serious action to prevent its spread did not occur until January 2017, at which point it was too late," it said.
Positive results for white spot disease were obtained from retailers in mid-2016, with elevated detection of the virus around the same time and serious biosecurity breaches at the border.
"The committee is very concerned that action was not taken with appropriate urgency," its report said.
"The elevated level of risk has resulted in the current WSD outbreak, and destroyed extensive prawn stock, at great expense."
The committee acknowledged potentially risky imports had since been suspended, but said this did not change the fact the disease had already breached Australia's biosecurity controls.
"Biosecurity measures at the border should have been robust enough to detect WSD-infected prawns and to prevent such product from entering the country," it said.
The committee is worried about changes to the suspension of imports of potentially infected prawns and prawn products, as the disease outbreak is still unknown.
"The committee is particularly concerned that raw marinated prawns and prawn product, intended for human consumption, will soon recommence importation," they said.
"Infected raw prawns, including marinated prawns, remain one of the causes of the WSD outbreak."
The committee vowed to keep a close watch on communications between the department and government and industry figures while it plugs away at its final report.
It recommended agriculture officials approve the use of other laboratories alongside animal health officers to determine the presence of the virus in uncooked prawns and prawn products in Australia.
The disease does not pose any health risks to humans, but is highly contagious to crustaceans.
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