Orchards under threat

By Kath Gannaway
APPLE and pear growers in the Yarra Valley have added the risk of Chinese fruit fly and other diseases to their battle to keep the industry free of disease.
Industry body Apple and Pear Australia Ltd (APAL) voiced its frustration last week when it was informed that four of its objections to the provisional final Independent Risk Assessment (IRA) for apple imports from China were disallowed, and one was found to be outside the grounds for appeal.
The IRA Appeals Panel delivered the findings as China pushes to have its fruit allowed into Australia.
The industry has for decades waged a campaign to keep New Zealand apples out of the country for fear of Fire Blight which affects the industry in that country.
Darral Ashton, chairman of APAL, said he was very disappointed with the result of their latest efforts.
“APAL submitted one of just two appeals that were examined by IRAAP.
“We believe our grounds for appeal were real and compelling. The rejection of the appeal is a real blow to the Australian apple and pear industry,” Mr Ashton said.
APAL biosecurity issues spokesperson and Fire Blight Task Force chairman, John Corboy said the industry was particularly concerned that the IRA did not assess the potential impact of a Chinese fruit fly – Drosophila suzukii, which was declared outside the grounds of appeal.
“This insect has only just emerged in the US as a major pest impacting a range of fruits. There is a lot of literature that indicates this pest infects apples.
“The IRAAP said that commenting on D. suzukii would be commenting on the scientific merits of the IRA, and that is outside the IRAAP’s terms of reference,” he said.
“It also said that the import risk assessment can only be based on the known science at the time of the IRA.
“It appears that IRAAP is saying that if a serious pest is missed in any risk assessment, this is not important and will be ignored.
“Not only is this illogical, it makes a mockery of the whole appeals process.
“The government cannot stand by and allow this flawed process to continue unchanged,” Mr Corboy said. “If we don’t know the distribution of D.suzukii in China then we should be finding that information. It is absurd to think that a risk analysis is set to a fixed time period.
“Pest and diseases risks can change very quickly and we need to be able to respond appropriately to those changes.”
APAL also claimed in its appeal there was a failure to conduct an unrestricted risk assessment for Apricot Weevil, Yanyuan scale, Citropholis mealybug and sooty blotch and flyspeck from specific regions in China.
Mr Corboy said they were very disturbed that the industry had now run out of grounds for appeal.
“When apples are imported from China, we face an unacceptable risk on new pests and disease entering the country,” he said.
“It is not just the apple and pear industry that will lose out if a pest incursion occurs. The whole country will be worse off, particularly in the case of D. suzukii, which can infest a whole range of fruits. This would add costs across the board.”