Biosecurity Advice 2016-10 - Draft pest risk analysis for Cucumber green mottle mosaic virus (CGMMV)

​8 April 2016

Background

In September 2014, Cucumber green mottle mosaic virus (CGMMV) was confirmed to occur in commercial watermelon farms near Katherine and Darwin in the Northern Territory. As a result, CGMMV was declared a quarantine pathogen; and delimiting surveys were initiated in the Northern Territory in growing areas for species in the Cucurbitaceae family (cucurbits). Additionally, CGMMV was later reported on a single property near Charters Towers in Queensland in April 2015, and the property remains under quarantine.

In October 2014, the Australian Government Department of Agriculture and Water Resources introduced emergency measures to mitigate the risk of further introduction of CGMMV into Australia. These measures were amended in December 2015 to update the host list for CGMMV in response to the detection of this virus in the seeds of additional host species. The current emergency measures cover the seeds for sowing pathway of the following seed-borne CGMMV hosts: Citrullus lanatus (watermelon), Cucumis melo (cantaloupe; melon), Cucumis sativus (cucumber), Cucurbita maxima (pumpkin, squash), Cucurbita moschata (pumpkin), Cucurbita pepo (pumpkin; squash; zucchini), Lagenaria siceraria (bottle gourd) and Trichosanthes cucumerina (serpent gourd; snake gourd) and any hybrid of these species.

Although the Northern Territory government formally revoked the CGMMV quarantine zone in February 2016, the risk management measures have been implemented to contain the further introduction of this virus to other parts of Australia. CGMMV is under official control in Australia and consequently remains a quarantine pathogen.

The completion and release of this pest risk analysis (PRA) meets Australia’s international obligations to review the emergency phytosanitary measures introduced on CGMMV host seeds for sowing. This PRA report proposes that the emergency risk management measures currently in place are adequate to mitigate the risk posed by this virus and should become the standard risk management measures for CGMMV host cucurbit seeds. The only proposed change to the emergency measures is to provide the option for small seed lots to be tested off-shore, whereas previously, small seed lots could be tested on-shore only.

Proposed Measures

Commercial seed lots (off-shore or on-shore)

• Testing—mandatory testing by ELISA using a sample size of 9,400 seeds following the protocol of the ISTA 7-026. Consignments tested off-shore must be accompanied by an official government Phytosanitary Certificate endorsed with an additional declaration that the mandatory testing has been conducted in accordance with Australia’s requirements.
• On-arrival inspection—to verify freedom from live insects, soil, disease symptoms, prohibited seeds, other plant material, animal material and any other extraneous contamination of quarantine concern.

Small seed lots (off-shore or on-shore)

• Testing—mandatory testing by ELISA using a sample size of 20% of the seed lot weight or 9,400 seeds following the protocol of the ISTA 7-026. Consignments tested off-shore must be accompanied by an official government Phytosanitary Certificate endorsed with an additional declaration that the mandatory testing has been conducted in accordance with Australia’s requirements.
• On-arrival inspection—to verify freedom from live insects, soil, disease symptoms, prohibited seeds, other plant material, animal material and any other extraneous contamination of quarantine concern.

The draft report and information about the risk analysis process are available from the department's website. Printed copies of the report are available, if required.

Comments on the draft report must be submitted by 9 May 2016.

Lodging a submission: There is no specific format for submissions, but they must be in writing, and identify the relevant technical biosecurity issues being raised with supporting evidence. Preferably, submissions should be in Microsoft Word or other text-based formats and lodged electronically via email, but postal submissions are acceptable. Submissions should be received by the department within the stated comment period and addressed to:

Plant Biosecurity
Australian Government Department of Agriculture and Water Resources
GPO Box 858
Canberra ACT 2601
AUSTRALIA
Telephone:      +61 2 6272 5094
Facsimile:        +61 2 6272 3307
Email:              Plant

Privacy: The department requests that, at a minimum, you provide your name and contact details with your submission. Please indicate if you do not wish to have personal information published with your submission or disclosed to third parties.

Any personal information collected by the department as part of your submission will be used and disclosed by the department for the purposes stated in the Biosecurity Advice. Your personal information will be used to enable the department to contact you about your submission and may be disclosed to specialists, other Commonwealth government agencies, State or Territory government agencies or foreign government departments. Unless you request otherwise, the department may publish your personal information on the department’s website.

The department will handle your personal information in a manner consistent with relevant laws, in particular the Privacy Act 1988. Your personal information will be used and stored consistent with the Australian Privacy Principles and as outlined in the department’s Privacy Policy (available on the department’s website).

Confidentiality: Subject to the Freedom of Information Act 1982 and the Privacy Act 1988, content of submissions may be made public, unless you state you want all or part of your submission to be treated as confidential. A claim for confidentiality must be justified and provided as an attachment, marked ‘Confidential’. ‘Confidential’ material will not be made public. The department reserves the right not to publish submissions.

No breach of confidence will occur if the department shares your submission with a third party referred to under ‘Privacy’ in seeking advice in response to your submission.

Intellectual property: Responsibility for compliance with Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in submissions rests with the author(s). In lodging a submission, you warrant you have not knowingly infringed any third party IPR. By lodging a submission, you grant the Commonwealth a permanent, irrevocable, royalty-free, world-wide, non-exclusive licence to use, copy, reproduce, adapt, communicate and exploit all or any of the material contained in the submission.

Dr Marion Healy
First Assistant Secretary
Plant Division