11 December 2015
This Biosecurity Advice (BA) invites stakeholders to provide comments on the Draft pest risk analysis for ‘Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum’ associated with apiaceous crops by 25 January 2016.
Background
The Australian Government Department of Agriculture and Water Resources (the department) initiated this pest risk analysis (PRA) to provide scientific justification for Australia’s emergency measures to manage ‘Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum’ (‘Ca. L. solanacearum’) associated with apiaceous crops, including carrot (Daucus carota) and celery (Apium graveolens). This bacterium is not known to occur in Australia and is reported to cause serious damage to the carrot and celery industries in Europe. Australia introduced emergency measures on apiaceous host propagative material on 20 October 2014 to mitigate the risk of introducing this bacterium into Australia. Since the introduction of the emergency measures, parsnip (Pastinaca sativa) has also been reported to be a natural host of this bacterium.
This PRA provides scientific justification for Australia’s decision to introduce emergency measures for apiaceous host propagative material. The department considers that the current emergency measures are adequate to mitigate the risk posed by ‘Ca. L. solanacearum’ associated with carrot and celery propagative material. Therefore, these emergency measures are proposed to become the standard conditions to import carrot and celery propagative material into Australia. In addition, it is proposed that these measures be extended to parsnip propagative material. The only proposed changes to the emergency measures is to provide the option for small seed lots to be tested off-shore, whereas previously small seed lots could be tested on-shore only; and alternative conditions for tissue cultures of unknown health status. The proposed import conditions for carrot, celery and parsnip propagative material are summarised below.
Proposed measures
Seeds for sowing (carrot) [commercial lots]:
- mandatory off-shore or on-shore Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) testing (using 20,000 seeds); OR
- mandatory off-shore or on-shore heat treatment (50 °C for 20 minutes); AND
- a Phytosanitary Certificate with the additional declaration that the mandatory treatment or testing has been conducted in accordance with Australia’s requirements.
Seeds for sowing (carrot) [small lots]: 250 grams or less
- mandatory off-shore or on-shore Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) testing (using 20% of seed lot weight or 20,000 seeds); OR
- mandatory off-shore or on-shore heat treatment (50 °C for 20 minutes); AND
- a Phytosanitary Certificate with the additional declaration that the mandatory treatment or testing has been conducted in accordance with Australia’s requirements.
Tissue cultures of known health (carrot, celery and parsnip):
- mandatory off-shore molecular testing; AND
- a Phytosanitary Certificate with the additional declaration that the testing has been conducted in accordance with Australia’s requirements.
Tissue cultures of unknown health (carrot, celery and parsnip):
- mandatory growth in a closed government post-entry quarantine facility for disease screening; AND
- mandatory PCR testing for freedom from ‘Ca. L. solanacearum’
The department considers that the risk management measures proposed in this draft PRA will be adequate to mitigate the risks posed by ‘Ca. L. solanacearum’ associated with apiaceous propagative material.
The draft report and information about the risk analysis process are available from the department's website. Printed copies of the report are available, if required.
Comments on the draft report must be submitted by 25 January 2016.
Lodging a submission: There is no specific format for submissions, but they must be in writing, and identify the relevant technical biosecurity issues being raised with supporting evidence. Preferably, submissions should be in Microsoft Word or other text-based formats and lodged electronically via email, but postal submissions are acceptable. Submissions should be received by the department within the stated comment period and addressed to:
Plant Biosecurity
Australian Government Department of Agriculture and Water Resources
GPO Box 858
Canberra ACT 2601
AUSTRALIA
Telephone: +61 2 6272 5094
Facsimile: +61 2 6272 3307
Email: Plant
Privacy: The department requests that, at a minimum, you provide your name and contact details with your submission. Please indicate if you do not wish to have personal information published with your submission or disclosed to third parties.
Any personal information collected by the department as part of your submission will be used and disclosed by the department for the purposes stated in the Biosecurity Advice.
Your personal information will be used to enable the department to contact you about your submission and may be disclosed to specialists, other Commonwealth government agencies, State or Territory government agencies or foreign government departments. Unless you request otherwise, the department may publish your personal information on the department’s website.
The department will handle your personal information in a manner consistent with relevant laws, in particular the Privacy Act 1988. Your personal information will be used and stored consistent with the Australian Privacy Principles and as outlined in the department’s Privacy Policy (available on the department’s website).
Confidentiality: Subject to the Freedom of Information Act 1982 and the Privacy Act 1988, content of submissions may be made public, unless you state you want all or part of your submission to be treated as confidential. A claim for confidentiality must be justified and provided as an attachment, marked ‘Confidential’. ‘Confidential’ material will not be made public. The department reserves the right not to publish submissions.
No breach of confidence will occur if the department shares your submission with a third party referred to under ‘Privacy’ in seeking advice in response to your submission.
Intellectual property: Responsibility for compliance with Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in submissions rests with the author(s). In lodging a submission, you warrant you have not knowingly infringed any third party IPR. By lodging a submission, you grant the Commonwealth a permanent, irrevocable, royalty-free, world-wide, non-exclusive licence to use, copy, reproduce, adapt, communicate and exploit all or any of the material contained in the submission.
Louise van Meurs
A/g First Assistant Secretary
Plant Division
Contact: David Heinrich
Telephone: +61 2 6272 3220
Facsimile: +61 2 6272 3307
Email: Plant