Plant Protection News - July 2011

In this issue:

National Plant Biosecurity Status Report 2010 released
National Plant Biosecurity Strategy launched
National diagnostic network to be established
Developing a contingency plan for vegetable leaf miner: workshop
Remote Diagnostic Microscope a boost for Papua New Guinea…and Australia
Draft international plant standards released for member consultation June 2011

National Plant Biosecurity Status Report 2010 released

The latest version of the National Plant Biosecurity Status Report, a publication providing a synopsis of Australia’s plant biosecurity system, has recently been launched.

Plant Health Australia’s (PHA) Chairman launched the report at a PHA Member meeting held on 24 May 2011 in Sydney, Australia.

The report, spanning the 18 months from 1 July 2009 to 31 December 2010, presents readers with a wide range of information, including:

• plant pests of significant concern to Australia’s plant production industries
• response measures being undertaken for pests present in Australia
• the organisations and processes involved in managing the pest status of Australia’s agricultural, horticultural and forestry industries onshore, offshore and at the border
• over 850 active plant biosecurity research and development projects in Australia
• national biosecurity arrangements and reforms to current arrangements, and
• general information about the industries behind Australia’s $24.6 billion annual earnings from agriculture, horticulture and forestry production.

PHA consider the report to be a vital reference source for anyone interested in Australia’s plant biosecurity system, and the ingredients behind Australia’s success in minimising the incidence and impact of unwanted plant pests and optimisation of trade advantages.

PHA, the national coordinator of government—industry partnership for plant biosecurity in Australia, compiled the report with contributions, input and advice from Australia’s key plant biosecurity stakeholders.

The report can be downloaded from PHA’s website at National Plant Biosecurity Status Report.

National Plant Biosecurity Strategy launched

The National Plant Biosecurity Strategy (NPBS), a document charting the way ahead for Australia’s plant biosecurity system for the next ten years, has been launched.

Plant Health Australia’s (PHA) Chairman launched the strategy, a document endorsed by Australian governments and PHA Industry Members, at a PHA Member meeting held on
24 May 2011 in Sydney, Australia.

The strategy provides decision makers, policy creators and funding agencies with clear guidance as to the direction that must be taken to secure Australia’s plant biosecurity future.

The NPBS consists of ten strategies (listed below), each underpinned by a number of recommendations and actions, which have been formulated to respond to the challenges facing Australia’s plant biosecurity system.

1. Adopt nationally consistent plant biosecurity legislation, regulations and approaches where possible within each state and territory government’s overarching legislative framework
2. Establish a nationally coordinated surveillance system
3. Build Australia’s ability to prepare for, and respond to, pest incursions
4. Expand Australia’s plant biosecurity training capacity and capability
5. Create a nationally integrated diagnostic network
6. Enhance national management systems for established pests
7. Establish an integrated national approach to plant biosecurity education and awareness
8. Develop a national framework for plant biosecurity research
9. Adopt systems and mechanisms for the efficient and effective distribution, communication and uptake of plant biosecurity information
10. Monitor the integrity of the plant biosecurity system

Strategy developers anticipate that implementation of the NPBS will deliver an internationally first class plant biosecurity system capable of supporting sustainable plant productions and environmental health, while maintaining and enhancing market access.

PHA, the national coordinator of government—industry partnership for plant biosecurity in Australia, developed the NPBS through extensive stakeholder consultation. The strategy was also developed in light of the findings of the Beale Review “One Biosecurity: A Working Partnership” and with recognition of the Inter–Governmental Agreement on Biosecurity.

The strategy is available for download from PHA’s website at National Plant Biosecurity Strategy.

Launch of the new National Plant Biosecurity Strategy
Statement of Support from the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Joe Ludwig, Released Sunday 27 May 2011

National diagnostic network to be established

A commitment to establish an integrated National Plant Health Diagnostic Network (NPHDN) for Australia was recently made.

Fifty–five plant health managers and professionals, including plant diagnosticians, from around Australia made the commitment to establish a NPHDN at the National Plant Health Diagnostician Workshop held on 7–8 June 2011 in Sydney, Australia.

The Office of the Chief Plant Protection Officer (OCPPO) initiated the workshop in response to Strategy 5 of the National Plant Biosecurity Strategy which is to “create a nationally integrated diagnostic network” for Australia. The National Plant Biosecurity Strategy charts the way ahead for Australia’s plant biosecurity system for the next ten years.

At the workshop, participants contributed to the development of a tactical plan for establishing a NPHDN in Australia by identifying actions that would assist the building of such a network.

The Subcommittee on Plant Health Diagnostic Standards (SPHDS), the group tasked with enhancing Australia’s plant diagnostic capacity and capability, will use the outcomes and recommendations arising from the workshop to develop a draft tactical plan leading towards implementation of a NPHDN.

The OCPPO anticipates that the establishment of a NPHDN will provide Australia with enhanced capacity and capability to diagnose exotic and established plant pests. It also anticipates that a NPHDN will maintain core capacity and deliver services in a cost effective and timely manner across a full range of diagnostic needs.

The OCPPO commissioned Plant Health Australia to organise delivery of the workshop as an activity funded under the Australian Government’s Plant Biosecurity Reform and Response program.

Developing a contingency plan for vegetable leaf miner: workshop

Work to develop a contingency plan designed to improve Australia’s preparedness for a possible incursion of the exotic vegetable leaf miner, Liriomyza sativae, has commenced.

A small group comprised of mainly plant biosecurity officers from Australian governments, including several entomologists, and an industry representative began developing the plan at the Workshop on Emergency Plant Pest Preparedness and Management for Liriomyza sativae held on 7–9 June 2011 in Cairns, Australia.

The Office of the Chief Plant Protection Officer (OCPPO) initiated the workshop to develop a contingency plan for L. sativae on the basis that the vegetable leaf miner:

• is a serious exotic plant pest of vegetables grown in Australia, including tomatoes, potatoes, beans, melons and peas
• has been detected on a number of Torres Strait islands which lie to the immediate north of mainland Australia, and
• may not of yet been detected on the mainland, but Australia needs to be prepared for a possible incursion to minimise any impacts on the country’s plant industries.

To assist workshop participants develop the plan, an expert on L. sativae provided them with a presentation on the biology, impact and identification of the pest. The workshop facilitator also provided participants with a presentation on ways to engage the community in helping detect and report the pest.

Based on information from the presentations and other resources, participants developed various aspects of the contingency plan for L. sativae at the workshop.

To help ensure that the plan will be comprehensive, participants were asked to consider a number of L. sativae incursion scenarios, these included initial detections of the pest made in urban and peri–urban areas, nurseries and in cropping systems within Australia.

When completed, the contingency plan for L. sativae will provide detailed information on the pest’s life cycle, current and potential distribution, survival strategies and methods for surveillance, diagnosis, sampling, destruction methods and control.

The OCPPO expects that the information contained in the contingency plan for L. sativae will be used to form the basis for the development of an incident response plan should the pest ever be detected in Australia. It anticipates that the plan will aid a rapid decision making process for emergency response to an incursion of L. sativae in Australia.

Organisers will prepare a report on the discussions and outcomes arising from the workshop for delivery to the OCPPO for consideration in further development of the contingency plan.

The OCPPO commissioned consultants to deliver the workshop using funds through the Australian Government’s Quarantine Research and Preparedness Plan (QRPP). The QRPP aims to develop plant health capacity for the horticulture sector.

Remote Diagnostic Microscope a boost for Papua New Guinea…and Australia

A Remote Diagnostic Microscope (RDM) recently installed in Papua New Guinea (PNG), with assistance from Australia, has enabled better collaboration and information sharing on emergency plant pests between the two countries.

The Office of the Chief Plant Protection Officer (OCPPO), in collaboration with PNG’s National Agriculture Quarantine Inspection Authority (NAQIA), installed the RDM in PNG in March 2011 through its International Plant Health Surveillance Program.

With access to the RDM, NAQIA officers are now able to share images of suspect exotic plant pests via the web with experts in domestic and international institutions, including those within Australia.

NAQIA officers have already used the RDM successfully on two occasions to determine the identity of suspect exotic pests detected in PNG.

NAQIA officers first used the RDM to collaborate with mite experts from the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service and the Australian National Insect Collection (ANIC) to identify an exotic honey bee mite. Through the RDM, the experts were able to identify the pest as a Tropilaelaps species. Following this, NAQIA sent a mite specimen for DNA analysis to ANIC for further molecular identification where it was determined that the mite collected from honeybees in Laiagam, Enga Province of PNG was Tropilaelaps mercedesae.

NAQIA officers also used the RDM to collaborate with experts in the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) to identify a Scolytid beetle, trapped in coffee plantations in the Jiwaka Province of PNG, and suspected of being the exotic coffee berry borer (Hypothenemus hampei). The CSIRO, using the RDM and digital images of important Scolytid characteristics, determined that the beetles were other Hypothenemus species and not the damaging coffee berry borer.

The OCPPO expects that the RDM will help boost NAQIA’s capacity to rapidly identify suspect exotic plant pests detected in the field so that swift incursion responses can be mounted in PNG.

Through NAQIA’s use of the RDM, the OCPPO anticipates that PNG will be better positioned to manage its plant health threats on–shore, before the pests are able to move to Australia. The OCPPO also anticipates that use of the RDM will lead to increased information sharing on exotic plant pests in PNG that may pose a risk to Australia’s plant environment.

The OCPPO will use intelligence gained from the RDM activity to support Australia’s early warning system for exotic plant pests. This will help enable implementation of risk mitigation measures where appropriate, and greatly improve the success of subsequent control and eradication programs.

Draft international plant standards released for member consultation June 2011

Seven draft new or revised parts of adopted International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPMs) have been released by the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) Secretariat for member consultation.

As Australia is a party to the IPPC, it is required to implement adopted ISPMs. Through the Australian contact point, the Chief Plant Protection Officer, Australia actively participates in its standard setting activities to ensure that ISPMs take into account Australian issues and concerns.

The Australian IPPC Secretariat is therefore seeking any comments from Australian stakeholders with an interest in plant biosecurity issues on the following draft ISPMs:

• Amendments to ISPM 5 Glossary of phytosanitary terms
  • New terms: ‘confinement’, ‘exclusion’
  • Revision of terms: ‘absorbed dose’, ‘consignment in transit’, ‘phytosanitary certificate’, ‘ quarantine station’
  • Deletion of terms: ‘certificate’, ‘gray (Gy)’, ‘hitch–hike pest’, ‘legislation’, ‘plant pest’, ‘antagonist’, ‘competitor’, ‘control point’, ‘dosimeter’, ‘dosimetry’, ‘ionizing radiation’
• Draft revision to Supplement no 1 Guidelines on the interpretation and application of the concept of official control for regulated pests ‘Not widely distributed’ of ISPM 5 [NOTE text in grey is not open for comment]
• Draft Annex 4 to ISPM 11 Pest risk analysis for plants as quarantine pests and consequential changes in core text of ISPM 11.
• Draft revision to Annex 1 of ISPM 15 Approved treatments associated with wood packaging material [NOTE text in grey is not open for comment]
• Draft Annex to ISPM 27 Diagnostic protocol Trogoderma granarium
• Draft Annex to ISPM 28 Vapour heat treatment of Cucumis melo var. reticulatus for Bactrocera cucurbitae
• Draft Annex to ISPM 28 Heat treatment of wood packaging material using dielectric heat

These draft standards are available from the Australian IPPC Secretariat (by email) (telephone 02 6272 4837) or from the IPPC website at Member consultation on draft ISPMs. Also available is background information of the draft standard, including its development history.

Any comments on the draft standards must be submitted to the IPPC via the official country contact point – for Australia, this is the Chief Plant Protection Officer. Please forward any comments, including the rationale for the suggested change, to the Australian IPPC Secretariat before 18 August 2011. Templates are available from the Australian IPPC Secretariat if you have multiple comments.

This consultation period is the best time for commenting on the draft standards as comments on the draft standards released prior to adoption are restricted to changes in the draft standard made following this member consultation.

The IPPC standard setting process includes the drafting of a proposed or revised standard by experts, consideration and approval by the IPPC Standards Committee, followed by consultation on the draft standard with parties to the IPPC. Comments received from the consultation are considered by the Standards Committee in revising the draft standard. A final round of consultation is currently undertaken prior to consideration for adoption by parties at their annual governing body meeting, the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM).

The International Plant Protection Convention is the global forum for international plant health and protection and aims to prevent the spread of plant pests and diseases by means of international trade. Adopted standards are available at International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPMs).

Further information on these standards

ISPM 5 Glossary of phytosanitary terms is a listing of terms and definitions with specific meaning for phytosanitary systems worldwide. It has been developed to provide a harmonized internationally agreed vocabulary associated with the implementation of the IPPC and ISPMs.

ISPM 11 Pest risk analysis for quarantine pests including analysis of environmental risks and living modified organisms provides details for the conduct of pest risk analysis (PRA) to determine if pests are quarantine pests. It describes the integrated processes to be used for risk assessment as well as the selection of risk management options.

• Supplement 1 text includes details regarding the analysis of risks of plant pests to the environment and biological diversity, including those risks affecting uncultivated/unmanaged plants, wild flora, habitats and ecosystems contained in the PRA area. Some explanatory comments on the scope of the IPPC in regard to environmental risks are given in Annex 1.

• Supplement 2 text provides guidance on on evaluating potential phytosanitary risks to plants and plant products posed by living modified organisms.

ISPM 15 Regulation of wood packaging material in international trade describes phytosanitary measures that reduce the risk of introduction and spread of quarantine pests associated with the movement in international trade of wood packaging material made from raw wood. Wood packaging material covered by this standard includes dunnage but excludes wood packaging made from wood processed in such a way that it is free from pests (e.g. plywood). The phytosanitary measures described in this standard are not intended to provide ongoing protection from contaminating pests or other organisms.

ISPM 27 Diagnostic protocols for regulated pests provides guidance on the structure and content of the IPPC diagnostic protocols for regulated pests. The protocols describe procedures and methods for the official diagnosis of regulated pests that are relevant for international trade. They provide at least the minimum requirements for reliable diagnosis of regulated pests.

ISPM 28 Phytosanitary treatments for regulated pests presents in its Annexes phytosanitary treatments evaluated and adopted by the CPM. It also describes the requirements for submission and evaluation of the efficacy data and other relevant information on a phytosanitary treatment that can be used as a phytosanitary measure. The treatments are for the control of regulated pests on regulated articles, primarily those moving in international trade. The adopted treatments provide the minimum requirements necessary to control a regulated pest at a stated efficacy. The scope of this standard does not include issues related to pesticide registration or other domestic requirements for approval of treatments (e.g. irradiation).

Upcoming workshop

A workshop on the draft standards will be held in Melbourne on 30 August 2011 from
8.30 am to 1.00 pm. The workshop will give participants an opportunity to make comments or raise issues relating to the draft standards. It will cover all the draft standards but will also include an explanation of the IPPC its relevance to plant health and protection, and to standards setting. If you are interested in attending this workshop, please email the Australian IPPC secretariat or telephone 02 6272 4387.