Pomelos from Vietnam

We have completed a final report for the fresh pomelo (Citrus maxima) from Vietnam risk analysis. We will now verify that Vietnam can meet the import conditions.

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 risk management measures
• develop import conditions
• publish import conditions in our Biosecurity Import Conditions system (BICON).

About the risk analysis

We initiated this risk analysis because Vietnam requested market access for fresh pomelos. Learn more about why we carry out risk analyses and our international obligations.

We conducted this risk analysis as a review of biosecurity import requirements. This is because we conducted an assessment of the potential pests associated with pomelos from Vietnam and found that:

• the pests of concern were 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.

Final report

Summary of the final report

We released the final report on 29 April 2025.

We determined that the importation of commercially produced fresh pomelo from Vietnam can be permitted, subject to certain biosecurity import requirements.

Pests

The final report identifies 19 pests associated with pomelo from Vietnam that require risk management measures to reduce the biosecurity risk to an acceptable level. These pests are:

• psyllid: Asian citrus psyllid (Diaphorina citri)
• false spider mites: Brevipalpus phoenicis species complex
• fruit flies: carambola fruit fly (Bactrocera carambolae), guava fruit fly (Bactrocera correcta), Oriental fruit fly (Bactrocera dorsalis), peach fruit fly (Bactrocera zonata), melon fly (Zeugodacus cucurbitae) and pumpkin fruit fly (Zeugodacus tau)
• mealybugs: cocoa mealybug (Exallomochlus hispidus), coffee mealybug (Planococcus lilacinus) and fruit tree mealybug (Rastrococcus invadens)
• scale insects: tropical grey chaff scale (Parlatoria cinerea), black parlatoria scale (Parlatoria ziziphi) and mulberry scale (Pseudaulacaspis pentagona)
• spider mites: citrus red mite (Panonychus citri) and Kanzawa spider mite (Tetranychus kanzawai)
• thrips: chilli thrips (Scirtothrips dorsalis) and onion thrips (Thrips tabaci)
• bacterium: citrus canker (Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri).

Risk management measures

We recommend a range of measures to reduce the risk of these pests arriving in Australia via the fresh pomelo pathway. These measures are:

• for Asian citrus psyllid
  • pest free areas, pest free places of production or pest free production sites; or
  • a systems approach considered to be effective in mitigating the risk of this psyllid on pomelo fruit, and approved by the department; or
  • fruit treatment considered to be effective against psyllids, such as methyl bromide fumigation.
• for fruit flies
  • pest free areas, pest free places of production or pest free production sites; or
  • fruit treatment considered to be effective against fruit flies such as irradiation.
• for false spider mites, mealybugs, scale insects, spider mite and thrips
  • pre-export visual inspection, and if found, remedial action.
• for citrus canker
  • a systems approach considered to be effective in mitigating the risk of this pathogen on pomelo fruit, and approved by the department.

Your feedback on the draft report

We received submissions on the draft report from 7 stakeholders. Where permission has been given, these submissions have been published below. We have made changes to the risk analysis following consideration of stakeholder comments and a subsequent review of literature. These changes include:

• amendments to Chapter 2 ‘Commercial production practices for pomelo fruit in Vietnam’, with additional information on
  • production of disease-free nursery stock
  • management of citrus greening (Huanglongbing) disease
  • good agricultural practice (GAP) programs
• amendments to Chapter 3 ‘Pest risk assessments for quarantine pests’
  • revision to the pest risk assessment for fruit flies (section 3.6), clarifying the pathway association of the identified fruit flies
  • revision to the pest risk assessment for spider mites (section 3.9) to reflect publication of the Final report for a review of pest risk assessments for spider mites (Acari: Trombidiformes: Tetranychidae) in June 2024
• amendment to Chapter 4 ‘Pest risk management’ to update section 4.1.1 with the inclusion of appropriate pest interception data
• amendments to Appendix B 'Initiation and categorisation for pests of pomelo fruit from Vietnam' to include additional information and references for some pests
• addition of Appendix C 'Stakeholder comments', which summarises key technical issues raised by stakeholders, and how the department has considered these issues in this final report
• minor corrections, rewording and editorial changes for consistency, accuracy, clarity and web-accessibility.

Download submissions on the draft report

Available until April 2026.

Download the supplementary response to submissions on the draft report

Some of the stakeholder submissions on the draft report included comments that were outside the scope of the report. Our response to these comments are provided in the supplementary response document below.

Available until April 2026.

Download final report

Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, April 2025.

Draft report

We released the draft report on 30 April 2024 for a 60-calendar day public consultation period, closing on 29 June 2024.

Available until April 2026.

Announcement

We announced the commencement of this risk analysis on 28 July 2023.

Trade

Australia-Vietnam trade

• Vietnam is an important trading partner for Australia. Vietnam is Australia’s 12th largest two-way trading partner in goods and services ($28.2 billion in 2023-24) and sixth largest market for agriculture, forestry and fisheries products ($3.7 billion in 2023-24).

Pomelo industry in Vietnam

• In 2022, Vietnam was reported to have produced 905,000 tonnes of pomelos from a growing area of 105,400 hectares.
• Pomelo production in Vietnam is concentrated in the Mekong Delta, Northern Midlands and Mountainous, (comprising North East and North West regions) Red River Delta, South East and North Central Coast regions. Pomelos are harvested and exported year-round, with the peak harvest period between September and February.
• Most pomelos in Vietnam are consumed as fresh fruit in the domestic market, however fruit are also exported to a range of markets in the USA, Chile, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Pomelo industry in Australia

• Pomelos are a small but emerging segment of the Australian citrus industry. In 2023, Citrus Australia records indicated that there were 38.5 hectares of commercial pomelo orchards in Australia with annual production estimated to be 1,000 tonnes.
• Pomelos are grown primarily in Far North Queensland, with smaller amounts grown in the Murray Valley region in New South Wales and Victoria, the South Australian Riverland region, and the Northern Territory.
• Australian producers currently focus on supplying the domestic market.

Pomelo fruit imports

• Australia permits the import of fresh pomelos from the United States of America (USA), Israel, Spain and New Zealand. All imports must meet Australia’s biosecurity import conditions.
• During the period from 2015 to September 2024, Australia has imported fresh pomelo fruit from Israel (about 1,346 tonnes), the USA (about 2,486 tonnes) and New Zealand (about 14 tonnes).

Next steps

Before imports can commence, we will:

• verify that Vietnam can meet our specified import conditions
• publish import conditions on the Biosecurity Import Conditions system (BICON)
• issue import permits to importers who meet the import conditions.

The decision to commence imports will be a commercial decision between an exporter in Vietnam and an importer in Australia. The importer must meet the import conditions as set out in BICON.

Keep informed

Register as a stakeholder

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Contact us

For more information, email imports or phone 1800 900 090 (when prompted select option 1, then option 1).