Chinese apples are not expected to get access to the Australian market before late next year, giving Australian growers more time to mount an appeal on the import risk analysis (IRA) released by Biosecurity Australia last week.
The IRA recommended fresh Chinese apples be allowed access subject to quarantine conditions to reduce the risk from five diseases and 11 exotic pests.
Australian growers, who have roundly criticised the IRA, initially feared Chinese apples could be granted access as soon as this year, in time for the Chinese apple season.
It now appears that access won’t come in time and will have to wait for the next season, reported the Weekly Times.
“I can’t see how China could have undertaken the necessary inspections required in this protocol when it hadn’t been finalised,” said Apple and Pear Australia Ltd (APAL) general manager Tony Russell.
“That puts it back a year on what we’d originally thought.”
Mr Russell contests Biosecurity Australia’s (BA) risk assessment is incomplete, and has not conducted an analysis for all 22 Chinese provinces.
The quarantine requirements outlined in the IRA include orchard inspection for European canker, which must be performed in winter before trees are pruned, the Weekly Times report said.
The federal Department of Agriculture has also said BA would have to send a scientific team to certify the pest status of Chinese provinces before they could send fruit to Australia.
“Biosecurity Australia scientists have already completed verification visits for seven provinces and have been able to verify that the actual pest status of these provinces is in line with the known pest status as determined by the literature review,” a Department of Agriculture spokeswoman said.
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