Plant Protection News - June 2010

In this issue:

• Draft National Plant Health Strategy: call for comments
• Development of a PDA to support surveillance
• Plant health surveys in the Solomon Islands
• IPPC draft standards: call for comments
• Plant Protection Agreement for the Asia and Pacific region
• Recent official pest report to the IPPC

 
Draft National Plant Health Strategy: call for comments

Plant Health Australia (PHA) is seeking comments on the draft National Plant Health Strategy (NPHS) to enable the document to be finalised. Comments on the draft strategy from PHA Members and all interest groups in Australia's plant health system are due by Friday 10 July 2010.

The NPHS is designed to deliver a national strategic direction for the plant health sector focusing on the next ten year period. It is designed to incorporate all areas of the national plant health system and involve all stakeholders that have a shared responsibility and commitment to the plant health status of Australia.

The draft NPHS has been developed through extensive stakeholder consultation to address challenges facing sustainable production and market access.

Comments should be directed to PHA's Program Manager, National Strategies and Policy Coordination, Nicholas Woods or by phone on
+61 2 6215 7704 or fax +61 2 6260 4321. The draft strategy is available in hard copy from PHA and can be downloaded from their website, National Plant Health Strategy

Development of a surveillance PDA tool to interface with BioSIRT

A new tool to better capture field observations of plant pests during survey activities is being developed. The tool, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) database application, will enable plant health surveillance data captured electronically in the field to be uploaded into BioSIRT (Biosecurity, Surveillance, Incident Response and Tracing).

The Office of the Chief Plant Protection Officer (OCPPO), the office responsible for coordinating the activity, envisages that connecting the PDA and BioSIRT technologies will ensure nationally consistent and standardised plant health surveillance reporting. Australian biosecurity authorities will be able to use information entered into BioSIRT to support the country’s plant health status claims and market access requests, as well as for statistical analysis of plant pest movement.

The OCPPO has developed, in conjunction with the National BioSIRT Coordination Team, a BioSIRT template for Multiple Pest Surveillance (MPS). It is envisaged that BioSIRT be used as the primary data repository for MPS information collected at the state and territory level, and aggregated at the national level.

The OCPPO expects that the PDA application and BioSIRT template will be ready to use for the 2010-11 National Plant Pest Surveillance Program. The office will facilitate testing by jurisdictions of PDAs configured and supplied by the CRCNPB, as well as BioSIRT template installation and user training, where required.

The PDA database application builds upon work conducted on an earlier prototype version (the Urban Surveillance Database) developed in 2008-09.

BioSIRT is a spatial and textual, web based software application that has been developed to enable better management of information and resources associated with preparedness and response to incursions of animal or plant pests and diseases.

Plant health surveys in the Solomon Islands

Joint plant health surveys were recently conducted for the first time in the Solomon Islands. The joint surveys were conducted by officers from Biosecurity Services Group (BSG), the Solomon Islands Agricultural Quarantine Service (SIAQS) and the South Pacific Community from 10-21 May 2010. It provided officers with an opportunity to collect information on the island’s plant health status, with a particular focus on pests of agricultural commodities important to Australia, bee pests and tramp ants.

The BSG organised the surveys to help provide Australian and regional quarantine authorities with information on the movement of plant pests towards Australia, especially the Torres Strait Islands and Queensland.

Survey officers focused their surveillance activities on a BSG list of target insect pests and plant pathogens of concern to Australia. The BSG will use the plant pest information to aid with Australia’s assessment of risks posed by exotic plant pests that may reach the country, and contribute towards managing the risks offshore and undertaking onshore preparedness activities.

The BSG considers the Solomon Islands as of particular strategic importance from a pest risk surveillance perspective, given its close proximity to Australia and the biosecurity risks associated with the increased movement people and goods in the region, among other reasons.

The survey activity was funded through the International Capacity Building and Plant Health Surveillance Program within the Office of the Chief Plant Protection Officer.

IPPC draft standards: call for comments

The International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) has released five draft International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPMs) for member consultation. Comments on these draft standards are due to the Australian IPPC Secretariat by 26 August 2010. Comments should be provided on approved templates and the intent of any changes should be clear and fully explained. The names and descriptions of the draft standards out for comment are provided below.

Systems approaches for pest risk management of fruit flies
This standard provides guidelines for the establishment and use of systems approaches as an option for pest risk management of fruit flies to facilitate trade of fruits. This standard applies to fruit flies (Tephritidae) of economic importance.
 
Submission of new treatments for inclusion in ISPM No 15
New treatments for inclusion in ISPM 15 need to be evaluated in accordance with procedures outlined in ISPM 28:2007 and thus may be submitted by national plant protection organizations (NPPOs) and regional plant protection organizations (RPPOs) if deemed to meet the requirements outlined in that standard. The incremental, step-based guidance is provided for treatment developers and for NPPOs or RPPOs submitting technical efficacy data in support of phytosanitary treatments to be evaluated.
 
Integrated measures approach for managing pest risks associated with international trade of plant for planting
This standard provides guidelines for the development and implementation of integrated measures to manage the pest risks associated with the production and international movement of plants for planting (excluding seeds). It outlines factors relevant for the determination of the risk level associated with particular plants for planting and places of production, as well as risk-based application of measures and the responsibilities of the NPPOs of the importing and exporting countries.
 
Irradiation treatment for Ceratitis capitata (Annex to ISPM 28)
This treatment applies to the irradiation of fruits and vegetables at 100 Gy minimum absorbed dose to prevent the emergence of adults of Ceratitis capitata (Mediterranean fruit fly) at the stated efficacy. This treatment should be applied in accordance with the requirements outlined in ISPM 18 (Guidelines for the use of irradiation as a phytosanitary meaure).
 
Diagnostic protocol for plum pox
Sharka (plum pox) is one of the most serious diseases of stone fruit in terms of agronomic impact and economic importance. The disease, caused by Plum pox virus (PPV), affects the genus Prunus; it is particularly damaging in apricot (P. armeniaca), European plum (P. domestica), Japanese plum (P. salicina) and peach (P. persicae) because it reduces quality and causes premature fruit drop.

Member consultation on draft ISPMs.

Draft standards workshop
The Office of the Chief Plant Protection Officer will hold a workshop on the draft standards on 12 August 2010 in Rosebery, Sydney. The workshop is designed to increase awareness of the IPPC and its standards setting process. It also provides a forum to learn more about international phytosanitary standards in general, and those circulated for country comment more specifically. The workshop will give participants an opportunity to make comments or raise issues on the draft standards. Please contact the Australian IPPC Secretariat if you are interested in attending the workshop.

Contact:
Australian IPPC Secretariat
Telephone: +61 2 6272 4837

Plant Protection Agreement for the Asia and Pacific Region

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Legal Office has circulated amendments to the Plant Protection Agreement for the Asia and Pacific Region for acceptance by contracting parties. Australia is a contracting party to the Agreement and the Department is commencing Australian Government treaty processes to accept these amendments.

Some of the amendments to the Agreement update it by aligning it with the World Trade Organization Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement) and the 1997 revision to the International Plant Protection Convention. The amendments to the IPPC are in force. Australia is a member of these treaties and an active participant in both fora.

The amendments also include modern requirements for plant protection and strengthen the Asia and Pacific Plant Protection Commission (APPPC) by allowing it to have subsidiary bodies and giving it the power to develop and adopt regional standards. Australia participates in APPPC activities, including regional standard setting. It is also currently leading a regional project on pest incursion management and participating in a project on implementation of International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures.

The amendments do not entail new obligations and will enter into force for all contracting governments on the thirtieth day following acceptance by two-thirds of such governments.

Recent official pest reports to the IPPC

Australia recently added the following official pest report to the International Phytosanitary Portal: Myrtle Rust in Australia