Tasmania bans imports of WA strawberries

Tasmania has stopped imports of strawberries from Western Australia after three separate punnets were found on retail shelves with green snails.

The high-risk snails were found in punnets from three separate farms, leading to a blanket ban on strawberries grown in Western Australia.

Fruit Growers Tasmania’s Phil Pyke told the ABC that prices for strawberries in Tasmania could double given not only the ban on West Australian imports, but also a shortage in supplies from Queensland due to warmer weather.

'There's going to be empty shelf space for quite a while,' Pyke said. 'At the moment, demand would certainly exceed supply, so if anyone has any produce coming in from Queensland they're going to get a premium price for it.'

This is the first time the snails have been detected in Tasmania, with Biosecurity Tasmania ramping up its checks of imported soft fruits.