Plant Protection News - May 2011

In this issue:

• Plant Biosecurity Sensitive Data Service to manage data sharing concerns
• Advanced diagnostics training in smuts and thrips
• Workshops: engaging the community in plant biosecurity futures
• Newly adopted International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures
• Joint plant health surveys in Papua New Guinea

Plant Biosecurity Sensitive Data Service to manage data sharing concerns

A project to address the issue of managing sensitive plant biosecurity data when being entered into and shared through the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) is currently underway.

The Office of the Chief Plant Protection Officer (OCPPO) within the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry has commissioned a consultant to define categories and develop rules for a Plant Biosecurity Sensitive Data Service (PBSDS).

The PBSDS, a service to be built by the ALA, will ensure that plant biosecurity-related data will not cause harm through errors or misinterpretations when publically displayed.

The PBSDS will apply to records contained within the Australian Plant Pest Database (APPD), an online database of pests and diseases of Australia's economically important plants, and other plant biosecurity-related records entering the ALA.

The development of a PBSDS, as well as the addition of sharing APPD data through the ALA, will provide the public with more comprehensive and accessible information on Australia’s biodiversity.

Both the ALA and the OCPPO recognised the need for a PBSDS as data sensitivity was identified as a significant concern amongst APPD data custodians with respect to data sharing. In relation to APPD data and entering of plant biosecurity-related data, data could be sensitive for reasons relating to quarantine, trade, biosecurity or privacy.

The APPD provides access to over 14 existing plant pest collections containing over one million pest voucher specimens, making it possible to quickly retrieve voucher specimen details of insects, nematodes, fungi, bacteria and viruses that affect plants of economic and ecological significance.

The ALA, a National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy funded activity, is a web-based environment that is currently being developed to provide the public with access to a vast amount of biodiversity data from numerous sources.

The OCPPO is funding the PBSDS work through the Australian Government’s Plant Biosecurity and Response Reform program for the 2010-11 financial year.

Advanced diagnostics training in smuts and thrips

Two training courses were recently held to advance the skills level of Australian plant diagnosticians in fungal smuts (Ustilaginomycotina) and thrips (Thysanoptera).

The diagnostic training courses on smuts and thrips, held 14-25 March 2011 and 21 February to 4 March 2011 respectively, allowed trainees to build demonstrable competencies in preparation and diagnoses of specified plant pest groups for plant biosecurity purposes.

Each of the training courses was attended by three trainees and delivered by a world class expert on the plant pest group of interest. Participant numbers were kept purposely low to ensure in-depth training and transferral of skills between trainers and trainees.

The Office of the Chief Plant Protection Officer (OCPPO) within the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry organised the training courses as a part of its Advanced Diagnosticians Development framework. The framework, developed to address the problem of Australia’s declining expertise in plant diagnostics, covers diagnostic training programs for a range of plant pest groups. Each of the training programs, such as that for smuts and thrips, runs over a two year period where trainees:

• attend an initial two week intensive training course with a world class expert where their competency in diagnostic and preparation ability is tested
• are tested for retention of competency at 12 and 24 month intervals, and
• are required to train one further diagnostician in some aspect of the diagnostics in the particular plant pest group.

Plant diagnosticians who have completed the training course will better Australia’s ability to identify plant pests entering the country, a fundamental need for understanding the plant biosecurity risks facing Australia.

The OCPPO has targeted diagnosticians from Australian governments (departments of agriculture or primary industries) with experience in particular plant pest groups to participate in the training courses.

The OCPPO funded the training courses through the Quarantine Research and Preparedness Plan. The office plans to hold one more plant diagnostic training courses on termites in the 2010-11 financial year.

Workshops: engaging the community in plant biosecurity futures

A series of one-day workshops have been held across Australia to assist in developing an action plan to support effective community engagement in relation to biosecurity.

The workshops, titled “Futures Workshops – Engaging the Community in Plant Biosecurity Futures”, were held in Canberra (25 November 2010), Melbourne (17 February 2011), Perth (10 March 2011) and Cairns (24 March 2011).

The workshops involved key interest groups who work in the area of plant biosecurity and/or community engagement. Participants had the opportunity to explore their futures, visions, strategies and actions regarding community engagement in plant biosecurity.

At the workshops, participants were asked to identify options for investing scarce resources and to improve strategic planning in the area of community engagement and biosecurity.

The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES), commissioned by the Office of the Chief Plant Protection Officer (OCPPO) to organise the workshops, have prepared a discussion paper based on the outcomes from the futures workshops for consideration by participants.

ABARES is using the outcomes from the workshops to develop an action plan for the next five to ten years to support effective community engagement in relation to biosecurity.

The action plan will be a key component of a proposed National Plant Biosecurity Engagement Framework, which is being developed by ABARES for the OCPPO as part of the Engaging in Biosecurity (EiB) project. The OCPPO envisages that the framework will provide inspiration, guidance and support in relation to involving communities in addressing pest, weed and disease issues.

The EiB project investigates how the community could be best engaged in addressing biosecurity issues, particularly in areas of surveillance, detection and reporting of plant pests.

The OCPPO funded the futures workshops through the Australian Government’s Quarantine Response and Preparedness Plan for the 2010-11 financial year.

Newly adopted International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures

Two revised and four new parts of International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPMs) have recently been adopted by the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM) at its sixth meeting, held in Rome from 14-18 March 2011.
 
The CPM, the governing body of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), adopted the following standards:

• Revised ISPM 7 ‘Export certification system’ – this standard contains requirements and describes components of the phytosanitary certification system to be established by National Plant Protection Organizations
• Revised ISPM 12 ‘Phytosanitary certificates’ – this standard provides the requirements and guidelines for the preparation and issuance of phytosanitary certificates (export and re-export)
• ISPMs 7 and 12 were revised to reduce duplication and increase clarity
• A new appendix – fruit fly trapping – to ISPM 26 ‘Establishment of pest free areas for fruit flies (Tephritidae)’
• New annexes to ISPM 28: Phytosanitary treatments for regulated pests

o Annex: Irradiation treatment for Cylas formicarius elegantulus
o Annex: Irradiation treatment for Euscepes postfasciatus
o Annex: Irradiation treatment for Ceratitis capitata

These standards are recognised under the World Trade Organization Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures.

As a party to the IPPC, Australia participated at the CPM and its delegation ensured that adopted standards addressed Australia’s issues and concerns. A full report of the sixth meeting of the CPM will soon be available on the IPPC website at The Commission on Phytosanitary Measures.

Contact:
Australian IPPC Secretariat
Telephone +61 2 6272 4837

Joint plant health surveys in Papua New Guinea

A joint plant health survey between Australia and Papua New Guinea (PNG) was conducted late 2010 in Bougainville, PNG. The survey provided Australia with up-to-date information on the movement of unwanted plant pests towards its shores, especially the Torres Strait islands and Queensland.

The survey of Bougainville was conducted by three Northern Australian Quarantine Strategy (NAQS) officers from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) and the PNG National Agriculture Quarantine and Inspection Authority (NAQIA) from
15-30 November 2010.

DAFF conducts joint plant health surveys in Australia’s nearest neighbouring countries to provide early warning of pest threats. Australia’s biosecurity agencies use information gathered from the surveys to implement risk mitigation measures where appropriate, thereby improving the success of subsequent pest responses and eradication programs.

DAFF collaborates with counterparts in PNG to identify and detect plant pests to strengthen quarantine within the region through a Memorandum of Understanding between the department and NAQIA. The joint plant health survey provided Australia with a valuable opportunity to undertake surveillance for plant pests in high risk areas.

The Office of the Chief Plant Protection Officer within DAFF funded and coordinated the survey through its International Plant Health Surveillance Program.