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  6. Oriental melon and rockmelon fruit from Korea

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Oriental melon and rockmelon fruit from Korea

Public consultation on the draft report for the greenhouse grown fresh oriental melon (Cucumis melo var. makuwa) and rockmelon (Cucumis melo var. cantalupo) risk analysis has closed.

bra-infographic-finalise.png

Risk analysis

When we do a risk analysis, we:

  • review the science on pests and diseases of concern
  • assess and analyse biosecurity risks
  • develop proposed risk management measures, if required
  • consult the public on the draft report and then review comments
  • publish the final report
  • verify that the country can meet the recommended biosecurity requirements
  • develop import conditions
  • publish import conditions in our Biosecurity Import Conditions system (BICON).

About the risk analysis

We initiated this risk analysis because Korea requested market access for greenhouse-grown fresh oriental melon and rockmelon fruit. Learn more about why we carry out risk analyses and our international obligations.

We are conducting this assessment as a risk analysis for the purposes of Section 174 of the Biosecurity Act 2015. This is because we have completed a preliminary assessment of the pests of potential biosecurity concern associated with oriental melon and rockmelon fruit from Korea and have found that:

  • the pests of concern are the same, or of the same pest groups, as those pests that have been assessed previously for other horticultural goods
  • there are appropriate risk management measures already established for these pests or pest groups.

Draft report

We released the draft report on 6 June 2022 for a 60 calendar day public consultation period, closing on 5 August 2022.

We recommended that the importation of greenhouse-grown fresh oriental melon and rockmelon fruit from Korea be permitted provided they meet the biosecurity import requirements. All imports must come from commercial production areas of Korea.

Pests

Five pests associated with greenhouse-grown fresh oriental melon and rockmelon fruit are present in Korea and need risk management measures to reduce the risk to an acceptable level of protection. These pests are:

  • pumpkin fruit fly (Zeugodacus depressus)
  • Eurasian flower thrips (Frankliniella intonsa)
  • western flower thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis)
  • melon thrips (Thrips palmi)
  • Kanzawa spider mite (Tetranychus kanzawai).

Risk management measures

We propose a range of risk management measures, combined with operational systems, to reduce the risks associated with the greenhouse-grown fresh oriental melon and rockmelon fruit pathway:

  • For pumpkin fruit fly (Zeugodacus depressus):
    • pest free areas, pest free places of production or pest free production sites, or
    • fruit treatment considered to be effective against all life stages of fruit flies such as irradiation.
  • For thrips species and Kanzawa spider mite (Tetranychus kanzawai):
    • pre-export visual inspection and, if found, remedial action.

Download

Draft report of the review of biosecurity import requirements for oriental melon and rockmelon fruit from Korea (PDF 4.5 MB)
Draft report of the review of biosecurity import requirements for oriental melon and rockmelon fruit from Korea (DOCX 11.9 MB)

If you have difficulty accessing these files, visit web accessibility for assistance.

Announcement

More information about this risk analysis is available in the Announcement Information Paper.

Download Announcement Information Paper

Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, May 2019

Announcement Information Paper (PDF 812 KB)
Announcement Information Paper (DOCX 1.0 MB)

If you have difficulty accessing these files, visit web accessibility for assistance.

Trade

Australia-Korea trade

Australia and Korea have a strong two-way trading relationship. Korea is Australia’s third largest export market for merchandise trade, valued at $25.8 billion in 2019/20. In 2019/20, Korea was a major market for Australian beef, valued at $1.5 billion.

Melon industry in Korea

Melons are grown throughout Korea. Greenhouse-grown melons can be produced and exported year-round in Korea. Peak production for oriental melon fruit occurs from March to June, with the potential to be extended into August. Rockmelon fruit is produced all year round, with variation in planting date.

In 2019, Korea exported around 1,113 tonnes of melons to overseas markets, including Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore. This accounted for just 3.7% of Korea’s total greenhouse-grown melon production.

Melon industry in Australia

The Australian melon industry consists of approximately 250 growers producing melons across an area of around 8,500 hectares. The major melon types produced in Australia are rockmelons, honeydew melons and watermelons. We are not aware of any commercially produced oriental melons in Australia.

Melons are grown across most states and territories within Australia. Queensland, Northern Territory, Western Australia and New South Wales are major producers, with Victoria and South Australia producing lower, but still significant volumes.

Melons are available year-round in Australia, with August to April being the main production period for rockmelons.

Export markets for Australian rockmelons include the United Arab Emirates, Bangladesh, Fiji, Hong Kong, Japan, Kiribati, Kuwait, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Malaysia, New Caledonia, Nauru, New Zealand, Oman, French Polynesia, Papua New Guinea, Qatar, South Africa, Solomon Islands, Singapore and Samoa.

Next steps

We are considering all comments we received on the draft report. Your feedback is helping to inform our final report.

We expect to release the final report in 2023. Please note that this is an indicative timeline and may be subject to change.

After verifying that Korea can meet the recommended biosecurity requirements, we will develop import conditions. Import conditions will be published on our Biosecurity Import Conditions system (BICON).

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Last updated: 05 August 2022

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