South Australian senator Anne Ruston has called for an overhaul of the state’s market development strategy, following revelations its fruit-fly-free status is being ignored by China.
Ruston told news.com.au South Australian taxpayers contribute close to A$5 (US$4.5m) annually to protect the state’s fresh fruit industry from fruit fly outbreaks.
However, these efforts are seemingly being overlooked by Chinese quarantine officials, who are demanding South Australian fruit goes under cold sterilisation prior to entering the Asian nation.
“A major benefit of South Australia's fruit fly area freedom status is that produce from the state usually does not require expensive cold-treatment for export,” Ruston told news.com.au.
“Our status is recognised in virtually every export destination, but not apparently in China. This is an unacceptable oversight.”
Ruston said South Australian growers and exporters were footing bills of up to A$7,500 (US$6,835) per shipping container to have their fruit undergo cold-treatment in transit to China.
South Australia is a major production hub for Australian citrus exports. Ruston highlighted the state’s citrus industry is not required to arrange cold sterilisation for its fruit before entering other key markets such as Japan and the US.
She called for a more consistent and informed approach to market access discussions.
“Obviously there needs to be changes to how we approach market-access negotiations,” Ruston said.
“We need to have people at the table who understand the impact of protocols, from paddock to plate.”
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