13 December 2019
This Biosecurity Advice notifies stakeholders of the release of the draft risk analysis report for the proposed release of the rust fungus, Puccinia spegazzinii for the biological control of the weed, Mikania micrantha.
This draft report proposes that the biological control agent should be released, subject to standard import and release conditions associated with exotic biological control agents.
The draft report is being issued for a 60 calendar day public consultation period, closing on 12 February 2020.
Stakeholders are invited to have their say on the draft report. The department will consider all stakeholder comments received during the consultation period in preparing a final report..
The draft report proposes that the biological control agent, Puccinia spegazzinii, should be released to control the weed, Mikania micrantha. The risk is estimated to be Negligible, which achieves Australia’s appropriate level of protection (ALOP).
The applicant, the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (QDAF), provided a submission in support of their application to release the biological control agent. The submission detailed the results of host-specificity testing, together with other relevant information. This submission is included as an attachment to the draft report.
A preliminary draft of this report was distributed to state and territory government departments for consultation. The state and territory governments support the release of Puccinia spegazzinii to control the weed, Mikania micrantha.
The public consultation period has been extended from 30 to 60 days due to the holiday period over December/January. The standard consultation period for biological control risk analyses is 30 days, which differs from the standard period of 60 calendar days for other risk analyses. This is because the Department of Agriculture has consulted extensively with all state and territory governments, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and the Department of the Environment and Energy, all of whom support the recommendations in the draft report. This approach is consistent with the Revised guidelines for the introduction of exotic biological control agents for the control of weeds and plant pests.
The draft report and information about the risk analysis process are available online. Printed copies of the report are available on request.
The department invites stakeholders interested in receiving information and updates on biosecurity risk analyses to subscribe via the department’s online subscription service. By subscribing to Biosecurity Risk Analysis Plant, you will receive Biosecurity Advices and other notifications relating to plant biosecurity policy, including this risk analysis.
Dr Marion Healy
First Assistant Secretary
Biosecurity Plant Division
Telephone: 1800 900 090 (option 1, option 1)
Email: Imports