Changes
Revised post-entry quarantine testing requirements for Prunus spp. nursery stock
Effective from 24 October 2022Post-entry quarantine (PEQ) conditions for Prunus spp. for use as nursery stock have been revised, to ensure that they remain current and best able to protect Australian agriculture from new and emerging plant pests and diseases.
Changes include:
- An additional on-arrival polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test to be conducted on imported budwood to screen for the presence of Erwinia amylovora (fireblight), consistent with the department’s nursery stock policy to strengthen risk management measures for Australia’s National Plant Priority Pests.
Updates to the list of quarantine pests:
- Removal of Asian prunus virus 2, Arabis mosaic virus and Apricot latent virus as quarantine pests as they are considered to be present in Australia.
- An additional 22 viruses that are considered to be quarantine pests for Australia and will require disease screening in PEQ to achieve an appropriate level of protection for Australia
- The revised quarantine pest list for imported Prunus nursery stock is provided in Table 1.
The use of high throughput sequencing (HTS) to detect viruses and viroids of biosecurity concern associated with imported Prunus spp.
- HTS replaces the testing methods previously used to detect quarantinable viruses and viroids in Prunus nursery stock, 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.
- Further background on the department’s transition to HTS testing is located here.
The minimum quarantine period for imported Prunus spp. nursery stock will remain unchanged (i.e. minimum 16 months growth and disease screening/testing).
Table 1. Revised quarantine pest list for imported Prunus spp. nursey stock. ‘*’ denotes a new quarantine pest associated with Prunus nursery stock.
Apiognomonia erythrostoma |
Cherry rosette virus* |
Peach rosette mosaic virus |
Apiosporina morbosa |
Cherry rusty mottle associated virus* |
Petunia asteroid mosaic virus |
Apple scar skin viroid |
Cherry twisted leaf associated virus |
Phaeoacremonium amygdalinum |
Apricot latent ringspot virus |
Cherry virus F* |
Phaeoacremonium iranianum |
Arabis mosaic virus |
Cherry virus T* |
Phymatotrichopsis omnivora |
Asian prunus virus 1 |
Cherry virus Trakiya* |
Phytophthora kernoviae |
Asian prunus virus 3 |
Cherry virus Turkey* |
Phytophthora parsiana |
Blumeriella jaapii |
Coniochaeta prunicola |
Phytophthora ramorum and related species |
Botrytis prunorum |
Cytospora oleina |
Plum pox virus |
Camarosporium persicae |
Desarmillaria tabescens |
Podosphaera cerasi |
Candidatus Phytoplasma asteris |
Diaporthe decorticans |
Podosphaera pruni-avium |
Candidatus Phytoplasma aurantifolia (prunus strain) |
Epirus cherry virus* |
Podosphaera prunicola |
Candidatus Phytoplasma fraxini |
Erwinia amylovora |
Prunus latent virus* |
Candidatus Phytoplasma mali |
Eutypa cremea |
Prunus virus I* |
Candidatus Phytoplasma phoenicium |
Helicobasidium mompa |
Prunus virus T* |
Candidatus Phytoplasma pruni |
Hop stunt viroid (exotic strains) |
Pseudomonas amygdali |
Candidatus Phytoplasma prunorum |
Monilinia fructigena |
Pseudomonas cerasi |
Candidatus Phytoplasma pyri |
Monilinia kusanoi |
Pseudomonas syringae pv. avii |
Candidatus Phytoplasma solani |
Monilinia mumeicola |
Pseudomonas syringae pv. Cerasicola |
Candidatus Phytoplasma trifolii |
Monilinia polystroma |
Pseudomonas syringae pv. persicae |
Candidatus Phytoplasma ulmi |
Monilinia yunnanensis |
Raspberry ringspot nepovirus (cherry strains) |
Candidatus Phytoplasma ziziphi |
Myrobalan latent ringspot virus |
Rhodosticta quercina |
Carnation Italian ringspot virus |
Nectarine marafivirus M* |
Spiroplasma citri |
Caucasus prunus virus* |
Neofusicoccum arbuti |
Stocky prune virus |
Ceratocystis destructans |
Neonectria ditissima |
Strawberry latent ringspot virus |
Ceratocystis fimbriata |
Pallidophorina paarla |
Tobacco necrosis virus (Prunus strains) |
Ceratocystis variospora |
Peach associated luteovirus* |
Tomato black ring virus |
Cherry associated luteovirus* |
Peach chlorotic leaf spot virus* |
Tomato bushy stunt virus* |
Cherry Hungarian rasp leaf virus* |
Peach chlorotic mottle virus* |
Tomato ringspot virus |
Cherry leaf roll virus (exotic strains) |
Peach enation virus* |
Verticillium dahliae (defoliating strains) |
Cherry mottle leaf virus |
Peach leaf pitting associated virus* |
Xanthomonas prunicola |
Cherry rasp leaf virus |
Peach maravirus D* |
Xylella spp. |
Cherry robigovirus 5* |
Peach mosaic virus |
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Who does this notice affect:
Importers of Prunus spp. nursery stock, brokers and department staff.
Further information:
Please contact Plant Import Operations on 1800 900 090 or by email at imports@agriculture.gov.au (please title the subject line of the email with ‘Plant T2 – Prunus nursery stock’).
This Change applies to the following Cases: