8 April 2011
Biosecurity Australia Advice 2011/03 - DRAFT NON-REGULATED ANALYSIS: EXTENSION OF EXISTING FRESH MANGO FRUIT IMPORT POLICY TO PAKISTAN
This Biosecurity Australia Advice (BAA) invites stakeholders to provide comments on the “Draft non-regulated analysis: Extension of existing fresh mango fruit import policy to Pakistan” by 6 June 2011 (60 days consultation).
Biosecurity Australia has completed a draft non-regulated review of existing policy for fresh mango fruit to Pakistan, following a request for market access from the Pakistan government. The draft report proposes a combination of risk management measures and operational systems to mitigate the risk associated with the importation of fresh mango fruit from Pakistan into Australia.
Australia has an established policy to import fresh mango fruit for consumption from Haiti, India, Mexico, the Philippines and Taiwan. The Department of Plant Protection, Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MINFA), Government of Pakistan requested access for fresh mango fruit in 1991. This market access request from Pakistan has been progressed as a non-regulated analysis of existing policy for fresh mango fruit. The commencement of the review was announced in a BAA (2010/06) on 17 March 2010.
This non-regulated analysis has identified fruit flies, mealybugs and mango bark beetle potentially carrying propagules of the pathogen complex associated with mango sudden death syndrome (MSDS) as pests of quarantine concern associated with fresh mango fruits from Pakistan. Fruit flies and mealybugs have previously undergone risk assessments in the policies to import mango fruit from India and Taiwan. However, the mango bark beetle, potentially carrying propagules of a pathogen complex associated with MSDS, has not been considered in previous policies. Therefore, Biosecurity Australia has conducted a detailed risk assessment and proposed additional measures to mitigate the risk of MSDS pathogens entering Australia on mango bark beetle.
Biosecurity Australia considers that the combination of risk management measures and operational systems proposed in this draft report will reduce the risk associated with the importation of fresh mango fruit from Pakistan into Australia to achieve Australia’s appropriate level of protection (ALOP), specifically:
- Orchard management for mango bark beetle and mango sudden death syndrome;
- Pre-export disinfestation of fruit
- Mandatory pre-export irradiation treatment at 250 Gy for fruit flies and mealybugs at DAFF accredited facilities; or
- Mandatory hot water dipping treatment using continuous flow system for fruit flies at 48 °C for 60 minutes,
at DAFF accredited facilities; or
- Mandatory vapour heat treatment for fruit flies at 46.5 °C for 30 minutes, at DAFF accredited facilities
- On arrival inspection and remedial action if required; and
- Supporting operational systems to maintain and verify phytosanitary status
DAFF officers will observe the application of the treatments and the phytosanitary inspection by MINFA officers in Pakistan at the commencement of the initial export season and at other times as necessary. This requirement will be reviewed annually.
Comments on the draft report should be submitted by 6 June 2011 to:
Plant Biosecurity
Biosecurity Australia
GPO Box 858
CANBERRA ACT 2601
Telephone: +61 2 6272 5094
Facsimile: +61 2 6272 3307
E-mail: Plant Biosecurity
The draft report is available via Biosecurity Australia’s website: http://www.daff.gov.au/ba.
All submissions received on the draft report will be carefully considered by Plant Biosecurity in finalising the pest risk analysis.
Please pass this notice to other interested parties. If those parties wish to be included in future communications on this matter they should contact Plant Biosecurity.
Confidentiality
Stakeholders are advised that, subject to the 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.
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.
Dr Colin J Grant
Chief Executive