14 December 2018
This Biosecurity Advice notifies stakeholders of the release of the final risk analysis report for the proposed release of the fungus Kordyana brasiliensis for the biological control of the weed, Tradescantia fluminensis (wandering trad).
The final report recommends that the biological control agent should be released, subject to standard import and release conditions associated with exotic biological control agents.
The applicant, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), provided a submission in support of its 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 final 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 Kordyana brasiliensis to control the weed, Tradescantia fluminensis.
The department announced the release of the draft report for public consultation on 11 October 2018 (Biosecurity Advice 2018/27). Comments were received from four stakeholders during this period; all comments supported release of the agent.
The final report recommends that the biological control agent Kordyana brasiliensis should be released to control the weed Tradescantia fluminensis. The risk is estimated to be Negligible, which achieves Australia’s appropriate level of protection (ALOP).
The final report and information about the risk analysis process are available from the department’s website. Printed copies of the report are available on request.
Stakeholders interested in receiving information and updates on biosecurity risk analyses are invited to subscribe via the department’s new 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