Annex

India’s National Plant Protection Organisation (NPPO) has primary responsibility for ensuring that orchards implement the systems approach effectively.

Components of the systems approach are:

1. Registration of pomegranate orchards and packing houses/processing facilities for export to Australia.
   Registration must be supported by training. India’s NPPO, or personnel approved by India’s NPPO, will conduct training at the beginning of each growing season for growers, sorting supervisors and packing house officials. Training includes awareness of Australia’s quarantine pests and requirements under the “Work plan for the export of fresh pomegranates from India to Australia”.
   
   
2. Required orchard activities include: orchard hygiene, preventative measures, monitoring and control.
   
   
3. Required packing house/processing facility activities:
   3.1. Fruit must be inspected on arrival and infested or damaged fruit are removed.
   
   3.2. Fruit must be washed with disinfectant and brushed prior to aril extraction. Pomegranate fruit must be washed with a sanitizer at an approved concentration (e.g. Tsunami, hypochlorite at 200ppm). Washing water is monitored or changed frequently to ensure appropriate concentration is maintained.
   
   3.3. Arils must undergo visual screening for contaminants and quarantine pests using a white background.
   
   3.4. Waste generated from aril extraction is managed and is removed from the processing facility daily.
   
   3.5. Arils are packed in sealed containers.
   
   
4. Pre-export phytosanitary inspection and, if quarantine pests are found, remedial action is required. Remedial action (by the Indian NPPO) will involve withdrawing the consignment from export to Australia and investigating the cause of the detection. The Indian NPPO may exclude the registered orchards and packing houses from export to Australia for the rest of the season.