Changes

The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (the department) has amended the import conditions for Vaccinium spp. (blueberry, cranberry, red huckleberry) nursery stock, following a departmental review to ensure they are current and best able to protect Australian agriculture from new and emerging plant pests and diseases.

In line with the review recommendations, import conditions have been updated as follows:

1. Vaccinium nursery stock must be imported as tissue culture to provide an additional level of assurance in relation to the cleanliness and health status of imported germplasm. Vaccinium is no longer permitted for import in the form of bare-rooted plants.
2. Mandatory testing for Blueberry latent spherical virus (BLSV) is no longer required, because no information is available regarding symptomology. BLSV remains a quarantine pest for Australia and would be tested for if symptoms were observed on the plants.
3. An additional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test has been introduced to address the risk associated with a new quarantine pest, Blueberry fruit drop associated virus.

The list of pathogens of biosecurity concern associated with Vaccinium nursery stock is now available in the ‘Appendices’ section of the BICON case.

Who does this notice affect:
Importers of Vaccinium nursery stock, brokers and department staff.

Import permits:
No import permits are affected by this change.

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.

The department is conducting reviews of high-risk nursery stock policy and conditions, funded through the Accelerating Horticulture Market Access program (AHMA) established under the ‘Enhancing Australia’s Agriculture’s Trade’ measure within the Australian government’s 2019–20 budget. AHMA supports further development of an internationally competitive and profitable horticulture sector and aims to improve access to clean plant genetics and propagative material as critical business inputs for the sector.

Further information:
Please contact Plant Import Operations on 1800 900 090 or by email imports@aff.gov.au (please title the subject line of the email with ‘Plant T2 – Vaccinium nursery stock).