Review of pest risk assessments for spider mites

We have completed a final report for the review of pest risk assessments for spider mites.

About the review

We undertake risk analyses to consider market access requests for fresh fruit commodities for human consumption from trading partners. Many of these risk analyses include pest risk assessments for spider mites of the family Tetranychidae.

We identified that, in some cases, different risk ratings were assigned to spider mites that share similar biological characteristics and are expected to pose similar biosecurity risks.

We initiated this review to examine and evaluate all previous pest risk assessments for spider mites to investigate whether the different risk ratings in previous assessments are justified and, if not, propose a solution.

Final report

Summary of the final report

We released the final report on 13 June 2024.

This final report confirms that most previously assigned ratings are appropriate, however some need adjustment. We recommend adjusting some ratings to reflect evidence now available and/or to align with species sharing similar biological characteristics and having similar level of biosecurity risk.

Your feedback on the draft report

We received submissions on the draft report from 6 stakeholders. Where permission has been given, these submissions have been published below. We have made changes to the review following consideration of stakeholder comments and a subsequent review of literature. These changes include:

• changing the quarantine status of Tetranychus marianae from a regional quarantine pest for Western Australia to a non-quarantine pest
• changing the quarantine status of Oligonychus punicae from a national quarantine pest to a regional quarantine pest for Western Australia
• incorporating and considering pesticide resistance in the review of indirect effect on eradication and control section (Section 3.5.4)
• the addition of Appendix E ‘Stakeholder comments’, which summarises key technical issues raised by stakeholders, and how the department has considered these issues in this final report
• minor corrections, rewording and editorial changes for consistency, accuracy and clarity.

Download submissions on the draft report

Available until 13 June 2025.

Download final report

Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, June 2024.

Draft report

We released the draft report on 14 November 2023 for a 75 calendar day public consultation period, closing on 28 January 2024.

The draft report examined and evaluated the previous likelihood and consequence assessments against current scientific information and Australian interception data of spider mites on imported fresh fruit for human consumption.

Download draft report

Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, November 2023.

If you have difficulty accessing these files, visit web accessibility for help.

Next steps

The publication of the final report reflects the completion of this review.

Implementation of the changes recommended in the final report will be undertaken on a case-by-case basis for specific pathways in consultation with relevant stakeholders. We will update import conditions as necessary.

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 (option 1, option 1).