Overview
Post-entry quarantine (PEQ) containment of consignments for further inspection, screening and remedial action if pest detection thresholds are exceeded.
- Examples include PEQ of live plants, growing media, and tissue culture. The consignment is held in PEQ for a set period that allows the potential expression of pest or disease symptoms and/or further testing. Remedial actions include treatment, destruction or re-export.
- Knowledge of the biological characteristics of the pest, and the efficacy of the diagnostic procedures, are needed to identify the appropriate level of containment and hold-time.
- Post-entry quarantine is a specialised, expensive and time-consuming phytosanitary measure. It is generally used where the target pest cannot be detected by inspection at-the-border and further containment and testing is necessary to manage phytosanitary risks.
- Assurance can be achieved through inspection and audit of the PEQ facility. Record-keeping of PEQ activities is generally required.
Evidence to support efficacy
Understanding of the biology of the pests that are potentially associated with the commodity and the available diagnostic techniques is needed to ensure that the level of containment and time held in PEQ is appropriate to manage the risks presented by the pest. Some fungi or bacterial infection have a long latency period before disease symptoms or bacterial populations are detectable. This may inform the length of time that live plants need to be held in PEQ. Detection efficacy needs to be estimated to help establish sample sizes, and to demonstrate the value of a applying this measure. Moreover, new diagnostic techniques that provide appropriate assurance may reduce the time that consignments need to be held.
Applying the measure
How it is used
Quarantine with remedial action is costly and time-consuming to undertake. Its application is therefore restricted to high-value, low-volume commodities that need to be held for a certain period of time so that quarantine pests become detectable. It is commonly used for seeds for planting or nursery stock that may carry fungal or bacterial pests. Often a wide range of plants pests (e.g. viruses) are being targeted, including novel ones.
This measure is always undertaken by the NPPO or relevant authority of the importing jurisdiction. It typically involves growing host plants until the pest becomes detectable visually or through laboratory-based methods. Detection generally results in destruction of the consignment. The level of quarantine containment is set by the importing jurisdiction and will depend on the risk profile of the pest(s). Plant pathogens generally require stricter quarantine.
Use with other measures
This measure can be combined with other measures that reduce the risk of infestation. For example, with a pre-border inspection with remedial action of seed lots prior to entering PEQ. It can also be included as part of a phytosanitary systems approach. For example, through combining with pest-free inputs if there is a requirement that parent plant stock is certified pest free prior to import of their seeds for planting into PEQ.
Similar measures
Quarantine with remedial action reduces risk in the same way as inspection with remedial action, but the commodity is held in quarantine to improve the efficacy of pest detection.
Assurance of correct implementation
The NPPO or relevant authority of the importing jurisdiction will need to ensure that the PEQ facility is audited by authorised personnel at an appropriate interval. The technical and operational procedures for the PEQ may need to be documented in a procedural manual, including any training procedures and competency testing of staff where appropriate. Record-keeping of PEQ activities may include: a record of all activities conducted in the station (e.g. staff activities, inspections, pest detections, pest identifications, testing, treatments, disposal and release of consignments of plants in quarantine, all consignments held at the PEQ facility and their origin and release, a list of staff and their training, and any visitors to the facility).