21 October 2010
This Biosecurity Australia Advice notifies stakeholders of the release of the Draft pest risk analysis report for Drosophila suzukii.
Drosophila suzukii is a fly which attacks a range of soft fruits, including cane berries, strawberries, cherries, blueberries, grapes and stone fruit. In response to reports of Drosophila suzukii causing damage to crops in North America in 2009, Biosecurity Australia recommended emergency measures to manage the risk of this pest entering and establishing in Australia.
The pest risk analysis (PRA) report considers all potential host plants and import pathways of Drosophila suzukii from all countries and recommends quarantine measures for importation of host plant material from countries where this pest is present.
The draft report is being issued for 60 days consultation. Comments and submissions are invited by 20 December 2010.
Drosophila suzukii has been recorded from a large variety of plant species where the immature stages of the fly occur within host fruit. Unlike other drosophila species, this pest has been recorded to cause damage to commercial fruit before harvest, and· may be on the pathway for traded host fruit. By late 2009, Drosophila suzukii had been confirmed to cause damage to fruit of caneberries (e.g. raspberries), cherries, stone fruit, strawberries and blueberries in North America. It has been confirmed to be affecting grapes in North America and is known to damage grapes in Japan.
In response to the new threat of this pest, Australia announced emergency measures on 7 April 2010 to manage the risk of Drosophila suzukii entering and establishing in Australia. Biosecurity Australia is releasing a draft PRA report that recommends ongoing measures and which meets Australia's obligations under the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures.
The draft PRA report identified a range of fresh fruits and some fresh flowers as potential pathways· for the introduction of Drosophila suzukii into Australia. These potential pathways have an unrestricted risk that exceeds Australia's appropriate level of protection (ALOP), therefore risk management measures are required. Plant Biosecurity considers that the risk management measures proposed in this draft PRA report will achieve Australia's ALOP against Drosophila suzukii. Specifically, the proposed risk management measures are:
For fruit:
- area freedom from Drosophila suzukii; or
- a systems approach using pre- and post-harvest measures to ensure that fruit is not infested with Drosophila suzukii; or
- an application of a treatment to fruit known to be effective against all life stages of the Drosophila suzukii (including but not limited to methyl bromide fumigation).
For fresh flowers
- area freedom; or
- an application of a treatment to fruit known to be effective against all life stages of the Drosophila suzukii (including but not limited to methyl bromide fumigation);
The draft report is available via Biosecurity Australia's website. Printed copies are available, if required.
Comments on the draft PRA report should be submitted by 20 December 2010 to:
Office of the Chief Executive
Biosecurity Australia
GPO Box 858
CANBERRA ACT 2601
Telephone: +61 2 6272 5094
Facsimile: +61 2 6272 3307
Email: Plant Biosecurity
Confidentiality
Stakeholders are advised that, subject to Freedom of Information Act 1982 and the Privacy Act 1988, all submissions received in response to Biosecurity Australia Advices will be publicly available and may be listed or referred to in any papers or reports prepared on the subject matter.
The Commonwealth of Australia reserves the right to reveal the identity of a respondent unless a request for anonymity accompanies the submission. Where a request for anonymity does not accompany the submission the respondent will be taken to have consented to the disclosure of his or her identity for the purposes of Information Privacy Principle 11 of the Privacy Act 1988.
The contents of the submission will only be treated as confidential if they are marked 'confidential' and they can be classified as such·in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 1982.
Dr Colin J Grant
Chief Executive
Contact: Darryl Barbour
Tel: +61 2 6272 3933
Fax: 61 2 6272 3307