A Senate Estimates hearing in Canberra today has been grilling staff from the department on where the recommendation - which has been accepted and supported by the Government - actually came from and whether there was any reason for the disease to come to Australia.

The recommendation came from the Beale report into Australia's biosecurity arrangements and proposed that live strains of foot and mouth disease be allowed imported to Australia for research into vaccines and control measures.

Minister for Agriculture, Tony Burke, has already rejected calls to block the recommendation, arguing it would be "irresponsible" to stop the importation outright as the opportunity may be needed if the disease were to make it to Australia.

Today officers from the quarantine and biosecurity division of the department confirmed there was no writted submisison requesting or proposing the disease be brought to Australia.

That would leave the proposal to be made privately to the panel or during a series of meetings, or suggested individually by the panel above those consulted, but there has been no confirmation of any of those options.

Other Departmental staff said they could see no reason at this point for the disease to be brought to Australia.

The Government reiterated there was currently no application to bring FMD strains to Australia for research, accusing Coalition Senators of jumping the gun with hypothetical questions.

Liberal Senator, Bill Heffernan, said the Government should turn the recommendation on its head, arguing an accidental outbreak of the disease would ruin the livestock sector.