Arrangement represents first time growers have been compensated without a formal national biosecurity Response Plan being initiated
Ausveg has announced potato growers could receive compensation for the destruction of potato seed lines during the response to the discovery of Potato mop-top virus (PMTV).
The compensation payments, which were reached with Plant Health Australia (PHA), are the first time such funds have been used to compensate growers without a formal national biosecurity Response Plan being initiated.
Under the arrangements, potato growers may be eligible for compensation if they owned a potato seed line sourced from Tasmania that tested positive for PMTV and had a State Government biosecurity order to not plant.
This included that seed must have been purchased from Tasmania by a potato grower for planting during the 2025/2026 season, and received before 1 September 2025, prior to the movement restrictions on Tasmanian seed entering the mainland coming into effect.
Growers seeking compensation must also provide evidence of seed ownership, and destruction, storage and processing costs, as applicable.
According to Ausveg, compensation will cover, depending on circumstances, the cost of the seed, the cost of destroying the seed and the cost of storing the seed under a biosecurity order, pending eligibility criteria being met. In the event the seed was processed at a value lower than the initial purchase value, the compensation covers the difference, plus associated storage costs.
Compensation does not cover potential loss of future income because growers were unable or unwilling to plant.
An independent, third-party assessor has been appointed by Ausveg to determine eligibility for compensation against the criteria, with cases for compensation then provided for consideration of an approval committee, prior to compensation being finalised.
