Alerts

From December 2022, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (the department) will commence high throughput sequencing (HTS) testing of imported Fragaria, Prunus and Rubus nursery stock to detect viruses and viroids of biosecurity concern.

• HTS will replace the testing methods currently used to detect quarantinable viruses and viroids in these commodities, such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and biological indexing.
• The department’s use of HTS in post-entry quarantine (PEQ) testing is limited to virus and viroid detection. The PEQ testing methods used to detect of other pests, such as bacteria and fungi, remain unchanged.
• We will retain capacity to verify detections of biosecurity concern using existing diagnostic tests and all positive detections of quarantine pests made by HTS will be verified using an existing diagnostic confirmatory assay.

The introduction of HTS will not change the minimum quarantine period for nursery stock in the short term. Quarantine periods may be reassessed in the longer term, but will be dependent on the quarantine pests associated with the pathway and the specific measures needed to achieve the required biosecurity outcomes.

Initial implementation of HTS will focus on Fragaria, Prunus and Rubus, but may be incrementally expanded to other commodities over time according to suitability.

Impact to clients and permit holders:
Implementation of HTS is expected to improve the efficiency of PEQ testing, which will assist the department in meeting forecasted increases in demand for these services. The expected efficiency gains may also result in an overall reduction in PEQ testing fees and charges for importers.

The department will vary current import permits at no cost to permit holders by the end of October 2022. We will contact all affected import permit holders individually to provide more information, including updated cost estimates for overall PEQ testing fees and charges. As these permit variations will be initiated by the department, permit variations will be performed at no cost to permit holders.

Additionally, we will contact individual importers with plants yet to complete their PEQ period to advise how their plants will be managed and tested during the transition to HTS.

Who does this notice affect:
Importers (and their customs brokers) of Fragaria, Prunus and Rubus nursery stock, and department staff.

Background:

• Australia has a strong biosecurity system in place to prevent the entry and establishment of pests and diseases that could threaten our agricultural industries, economy, and environment. As part of this system, imported high-risk nursery stock must undergo rigorous testing for pathogens of biosecurity concern at the department’s PEQ facility in Mickleham, Victoria.
• HTS is a powerful new diagnostic tool that will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of PEQ testing. It uses innovative technology to obtain information on viruses and viroids quickly and accurately, and is capable of detecting most species in a single procedure.
• The department has been developing HTS as a primary diagnostic tool since 2014, collaborating with governments, universities and industry stakeholders to validate HTS against existing tools for the detection of regulated viruses and viroids in high-risk plants of biosecurity concern.
• HTS has been validated against existing PEQ diagnostic tools using over 200 high-risk plants across more than 46 species, including Fragaria, Prunus and Rubus. This process has demonstrated that HTS is equivalent in sensitivity and is superior in efficiency compared with other diagnostic methods such as polymerase chain reaction testing (PCR). Its implementation will effectively mitigate biosecurity risks associated with the importation of Fragaria, Prunus and Rubus nursery stock, which will assist in achieving Australia’s Appropriate Level of Protection.

Further information:
Please contact Plant Import Operations on 1800 900 090 or email imports@agriculture.gov.au (please title the subject line of the email ‘Plant T2 – High throughput sequencing’).