Australia could be on the verge of accepting imports of Chinese apples, according to a leading figure at Apple and Pears Australia.

According to abc.net, Biosecurity Australia is set to close the issues paper with regards to US and Chinese apples 'in the next few days'.

Darral Ashton, chairman at Apple and Pears Australia, said that Chinese apples may have an advantage over their US counterparts when it comes to ensuring entry, due to the fact that Chinese pears and other fruit is already accepted.

'These Chinese ones (apples) are a different kettle of fish, of course, because we have been importing pears from these provinces since about 1999,' he told abc.net. 'There is a lot of work already done on the Chinese application.'

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