I havnt read all of this but it sounds terrible.....
but I really dont understand the need for Australia to request that all foodstuffs are irradiated or otherwise treated, I dont thin other countries require this and am sure the UK doesnt and I dont think we have a huge problem with imported diseases/pests from food (human or animal). What about other brands of catfood, presumably they have to recieve same treatments?
I dont mean to deminish the suffering your cats face, it truely is awful, I just dont get the requirements of your government

It has to do with the fact that due to it's relative isolation, Australia doesn't have a lot of the plant & animal pests & diseases that are prevelant in other parts of the world. These days with transportations times being far less than they used to be - strict quarantine requirements are enforced to ensure that this continues to be the case.

Anything of plant or animal orgins is required to meet strict conditions in manufacturering or undergo treatement to remove any bugs/diseases upon arrival in Australia (they used to spray the passenger cabins of arriving international flights before landing - these days the planes are treated periodically).

In the case of Orijen it appears that the manufacturing process doesn't heat the product to a sufficient temperature to comply with AQIS regulations - therefore it required irradiation (which adversely affected the product) - I guess a lot of the other pet foods are cooked at higher temperatures and therefore don't require the same treatment. Thankfully as a result of this the irradiation of cat food is now no-longer allowed in Aus (pity it took the suffering and death of countless cats before this happened).

Quarantine is something that Australia takes very seriously - when I move back there next year (or the year after) if we do take our cats (like that won't happen) - they will required to spend a minimum of 1 month in a quarantine facility before we get to take them home (the length of time depends where the animal is coming from).

notsure

Notsure please take a regular look at the Australian Quarantine requirements as they are currently in the process of changing for animals from the UK. There has been a lot of talk about it on the aussie cat boards but do not know if it hs been talked about much in the UK.

Bringing Cats and Dogs (and other pets) to Australia - DAFF

Thanks for that Raggierules - I see they've changed the requirements again in the past few weeks - although I'm actually in Norway, so from what i can see the changes don't affect my situation (at this stage anyways who knows what will change between now and and when we move).

I have to admit I do find it strange that the rules for Sweden & Norway are so different, considering they share a land border (heck we go grocery shopping in Sweden on a regular basis it's that close).

notsure