3 November 2008

Banana industry believes disease risks of imports can’t be managed

The Australian banana industry does not believe the pest and disease risks associated with the importation of Philippines bananas can be managed.

Quarantine regulator Biosecurity Australia has recommended in its Final Import Risk Analysis on the importation of Cavendish bananas from the Philippines that fruit could enter Australia if the Philippines meets risk management measures for seven pests and disease of quarantine concern.

Australia is free of the world’s worst banana diseases, and the Australian banana industry believes the complexity of the proposed risk management measures for imports would inevitably lead to breaches of quarantine that would ruin the local industry.

Australian Banana Growers’ Council imports committee chairman Len Collins said industry scientific experts are now working through the details of the 600-page document because earlier reports had contained a number of errors in risk calculations that were identified by industry.

“We are concerned that the proposed quarantine measures are to be implemented by Philippine banana growers on farms which do not have a culture of quarantine and would be open to manipulation and abuse,” Mr Collins said.

The IRA identifies seven groups of pests of quarantine concern, including moko, black Sigatoka and freckle and arthropod pests such as armoured scales, mealybugs, spider mites and thrips.

Diseases are a big problem for the banana industry. There are no control measures for Panama disease (Fusarium wilt) which has decimated the Northern Territory industry, and Australia has spent millions of dollars attempting to eradicate Banana Bunchy Top Virus from sub tropical plantations in New South Wales and southern Queensland. Moko disease is endemic in the Philippines but control measures used there would not be viable in Australia.

Back in 2001, Australia spent $20 million eradicating the leaf disease black Sigatoka from north Queensland plantations at Tully and to this day the source of that disease incursion is not known.
Plantations were ploughed out in a two-year eradication program involving an intensive de-leafing and spraying schedule before the industry eventually regained its official pest-free status in 2005.
In the Philippines, banana plantations are sprayed weekly to control black Sigatoka.

“Australia has a culture of quarantine and the banana industry has demonstrated its commitment to keeping our plantations as disease-free as possible,” Mr Collins said.

“We don’t believe the Australian Quarantine Inspection Service can manage all of the risks all of time and recent disease incursions such as Equine Influenza confirm our concerns.”

CHANGE OF ADDRESS

Please note that Australian Banana Growers' Council have moved from

Level 2
Block F
Brisbane Market

to

Unit 3, Building K1
South Gate Commercial Centre
250 Sherwood Rd
Rocklea  Q  4106

Please note that no other changes have been made -
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