3 May 2021
Who does this notice affect?
This notice is of interest to importers and their customs brokers of nursery stock, including tissue cultures, budwood, cuttings and rooted plants.
What has changed?
The purpose of this notification is to advise stakeholders that the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (the department) is taking further actions to manage the risk of the bacterial pathogen, Xylella in imported nursery stock.
The changes will result in regulatory measures being applied to an additional seven (7) plant families.
These families are:
- Araucariaceae
- Argophyllaceae
- Athyriaceae
- Corynocarpaceae
- Dennstaedtiaceae
- Haloragaceae
- Violaceae
Stakeholders are to refer to the department’s BICON Alert for further advice on these changes, including details on the genera that will be affected by the changes, as well as the department’s approach to managing import permits and consignments that are in-transit to Australia.
These actions are being carried out under Australia’s emergency measures for Xylella and will commence on 1 June 2021. These emergency measures are in place to safeguard Australia from the entry of Xylella fastidiosa (and all of its sub-species) and X. taiwanensis.
Further information
Enquiries can be directed to 1800 900 090 or via email at imports@agriculture.gov.au (please title the subject line of the email with ‘Plant T2 – Xylella emergency measures’).