Limes from Mexico

A review of biosecurity import requirements for fresh Persian lime fruit from Mexico

We have completed the risk analysis for fresh Persian lime fruit (Citrus latifolia) from Mexico. We will now verify that Mexico can meet the import conditions.

Risk analysis

When we do a risk analysis, we:

• review the science on pests and diseases of concern
• assess and analyse biosecurity risks
• develop proposed risk management measures, if required
• consult the public on the draft report and then review comments
• publish the final report
• verify that the country can meet the recommended risk management measures
• develop import conditions
• publish import conditions in our Biosecurity Import Conditions system (BICON).

About the risk analysis

We initiated this risk analysis because Mexico requested market access for the import of fresh Persian limes into Australia. Learn more about why we carry out risk analyses and our international obligations.

We conducted this risk analysis as a review of biosecurity import requirements. This is because we conducted an assessment of the potential quarantine pests associated with limes from Mexico and found that:

• the pests of concern are the same, or of the same pest groups, as those pests that have been assessed previously for other horticultural goods
• there are appropriate risk management measures already established for these pests or pest groups.

Final report

Summary of the final report

We released the final report on 16 May 2023.

We determined that the import of commercially produced fresh Persian lime fruit from Mexico can be permitted, subject to certain biosecurity import conditions. All imports must come from commercial production areas of Mexico.

Pests

The final report identifies 20 pests associated with Persian lime fruit from Mexico that require risk mitigation measures to manage the biosecurity risk to an acceptable level. Of these 20 pests, 17 are quarantine pests. Three are regulated articles for all of Australia, as they are capable of harbouring and spreading (vectoring) viruses that are of biosecurity concern to Australia.

The 17 quarantine pests are:

• armoured scales: Spanish red scale (Chrysomphalus dictyospermi), tropical grey chaff scale (Parlatoria cinerea), chaff scale (P. pergandii), fern scale (Pinnaspis aspidistrae), trilobite scale (Pseudaonidia trilobitiformis) and citrus snow scale (Unaspis citri)
• mealybugs: grey pineapple mealybug (Dysmicoccus neobrevipes), papaya mealybug (Paracoccus marginatus) and grape mealybug (Pseudococcus maritimus)
• moth: citrus peelminer (Marmara gulosa)
• thrips: Californian bean thrips (Caliothrips fasciatus), Florida flower thrips (Frankliniella bispinosa) and California citrus thrips (Scirtothrips citri)
• spider mite: red citrus mite (Panonychus citri)
• fungal pathogen: citrus scab (Elsinoë fawcettii)
• viruses: Citrus leprosis virus C (CiLV-C) and Orchid fleck dichorhavirus – Citrus strain (OFV-citrus/OFV-Cit1)

The 3 regulated articles are:

• 3 species of flat mite: citrus flat mite (Brevipalpus californicus) , B. papayensis and B. yothersi.

Risk management measures

We recommend specific commercial production practices be made mandatory, in combination with an operational system, to manage the biosecurity risk of these pests arriving in Australia via the Persian lime fruit from Mexico pathway.

The specific mandatory commercial production practices are:

• in-field pest management practices: monitoring for insects and mites using in-field surveillance and trapping, monitoring for pathogens, and when necessary, application of controls
• packing house practices: application of washing, brushing, disinfection, waxing, grading/sorting and quality inspection in the packing house.

Your feedback on the draft report

We received submissions on the draft report from 12 stakeholders. We have made changes to the risk analysis following consideration of stakeholder comments and a subsequent review of literature. These changes include:

• Amendments to Chapter 3: ‘Mexico’s commercial production practices for Persian limes’ to enhance clarity on commercial production and pest management practices, and include additional information obtained during the in-country visit in August 2022.
• Amendments to Chapter 4: ‘Pest risk assessments for quarantine pests’:
  • Inclusion of pest risk assessments (PRA) for armoured scales, mealybugs, citrus peelminer, thrips and red citrus mite. These pests are all assessed as achieving the ALOP for Australia on the fresh Persian lime fruit from Mexico pathway.
  • Extension of the PRA for Orchid fleck virus – citrus strain (OFV-citrus) to include Citrus leprosis virus C (CiLV-C), now in a combined PRA for citrus leprosis disease.
  • Inclusion of Brevipalpus papayensis as a potential mite vector in the PRA for citrus leprosis disease.
• Amendments to Chapter 5: ‘Pest risk management’ for clarity and consistency with recent risk analysis reports.
• Amendments to ‘Appendix A: Initiation and categorisation for pests of fresh Persian lime fruit from Mexico’ to include additional information and references.
  • Marmara gulosa (citrus peelminer) has been added, and was assessed as requiring further assessment in a PRA.
  • Revision of text referring to ‘contaminating pests’ for clarity, as the use of the term in this context was causing misinterpretation.
  • Change to the header of the potential pathway association column to indicate that, while the pest may be on the fruit, the assessment considers whether the pest will be associated on the fruit at the time of importation into Australia. This change is consistent with more recent risk analysis reports published after the Persian limes from Mexico draft report.
  • Clarification of pathway association for a number of pest entries, which resulted in a change to the assessment of some of these pests as now having the potential to enter on the pathway thus requiring further assessment in the pest categorisation process.
  • Corrected a pest entry error; Guignardia mangiferae was removed, as records of this fungus on citrus are referring to its current accepted name, Phyllosticta capitalensis, which has been added to the table.
• Updates to various sections of the report, where relevant, to reflect the changes to the number of pests now identified in ‘Appendix A: Initiation and categorisation for pests of fresh Persian lime fruit from Mexico’ as requiring further assessment in a PRA.
• Addition of Appendix B: ‘Issues raised in stakeholder comments’, which summarises the key technical issues raised by stakeholders, and how the issues have been considered by the department in this final report.
• Minor corrections, rewording and editorial changes for consistency, accuracy, clarity and web-accessibility.
• Updates to weblinks to cited references where appropriate.

Announcement

We announced the commencement of this risk analysis in May 2018.

Trade

Australia-Mexico trade

Two-way trade of goods between Australia and Mexico totalled approximately $4.43 billion in 2021–22.

In 2021–22, Australia exported about $282 million of agricultural products to Mexico and imported about $324 million of agricultural products from Mexico.

Lime industry in Mexico

Mexico is the second largest lime producer in the world, with year-round production and exportation. Limes are the second largest planted citrus crop in the country, after oranges.

Twenty-three states in Mexico grow Persian limes, with the largest volumes produced in the southern states of Veracruz, Oaxaca, Jalisco, Yucatan and Tabasco.

In 2020, Mexico exported 266,568 tonnes of limes. The main destination market was the United States of America, which accounted for 98% of Mexico’s Persian lime exports, with remaining volumes sent to the European Union, Japan, South Korea, Russia and Guatemala.

Lime industry in Australia

The Australian lime industry consists of approximately 380 commercial lime growers. Half of all Australian limes are grown in Queensland. The other major growing regions are Lismore in northern New South Wales, Riverland in South Australia and Darwin in the Northern Territory.

In 2021–22, Australia produced 23,112 tonnes of limes, accounting for approximately 3% of national citrus production.

Australian limes are available for most of the year (September-May), with peak availability between January and April.

Next steps

Before imports can commence, we will:

• verify that Mexico can meet our specific import conditions
• publish import conditions on the Biosecurity Import Conditions system (BICON)
• issue import permits to importers who meet the import conditions.

The decision to commence imports will be a commercial decision between an exporter in Mexico and an importer in Australia. The importer must meet the import conditions as set out in BICON.

Keep informed

Register as a stakeholder

Subscribe to ‘Biosecurity Risk Analysis Plant’ via our online subscription service to receive Biosecurity Advices and other notifications relating to plant biosecurity policy.

Contact us

For more information, email imports or phone 1800 900 090 (when prompted, select option 1, option 1).