The disruption to trade caused by quarantine pests and diseases is a significant issue for Australian and New Zealand horticulture. There is an urgent need to review and improve the current disinfestation methods to develop new export protocols that are effective, economic and safe to use. The project team consisting of researchers from across Australia and New Zealand, has reviewed all the published and unpublished phytosanitary research conducted against these pests.

1. biosecurity built on science
3097
Improved postharvest market access treatments
for horticultural commodities
Pauline Wyatt
Lisa Jamieson (project leader), John Golding, Peter Leach, Francis De Lima,
Peter Follet, Barbara Waddell, Allan Woolf, Jack Armstrong
Plant Biosecurity Cooperative Research Centre

2. biosecurity built on science
 Quarantine pests cause disruption to the trade of Australian and
New Zealand horticulture commodities
 Commodities that are hosts to quarantine pests need protocols to
access export markets with quarantine barriers
 Develop treatments:
- effective against the pest
- maintain product quality
- fit in to transport and handling systems
(air-freight/sea-freight)
- cost effective
 Significant disinfestation R&D over the last 40 years
 Many protocols developed, some used extensively, some
not used at all
Problem being addressed
Q fly Medfly
Codling moth
Tomato potato psyllid
Apple
leafcurling
midge

3. biosecurity built on science
 Phase 1 (Finished Nov 2015)
- A review of:
 treatment technologies
 disinfestation research
 current market access protocols
- Stakeholder workshops with horticultural industries
 Phase 2:
- Provide data to develop new export protocols based on
outcomes of Phase 1.
What are we doing about it?

4. biosecurity built on science
 Fumigants
- 15 major, 18 minor fumigants, methyl bromide
 Energy treatments
- irradiation, electrical, microwave, radio frequency, pulsed
electrical field, infrared, cold plasma
 Controlled atmosphere (CA)
- CA plus heat, CA plus cold, CA plus high pressure
 Physical
- heat, cold, pressure, vacuum, brushing, high pressure washing
 Systems approaches
Review of treatment technologies

5. biosecurity built on science
 Review all the published and unpublished phytosanitary research
 Researchers across Australia, NZ and USA who have conducted the research:
Review of disinfestation research
Team Member Organisation Speciality
Lisa Jamieson
Allan Woolf
Barbara Waddell
Project Leader
PFRNZ
Entomology
Physiology
Pauline Wyatt
Peter Leach
DAF, QLD Entomology
John Golding
Andrew Jessup
NSW DPI
Physiology
Entomology
Francis De Lima AgHort Solutions, WA Entomology
Jack Armstrong Quarantine Scientific, NZ Entomology
Peter Follett USDA-ARS Entomology

6. biosecurity built on science
Species Lifestage Treatment No tested Commodity Reference Protocol
Medfly First instar 1°C 16 days 84,560
Table grapes
Red Globe
De Lima et al.
2011
Japan MAFF
Medfly First instar 2°C 18 days 78,859
Qfly First instar 1°C 12 days 66,739
Table grapes
Red Globe
De Lima et al.
2011
Japan MAFF
Qfly First instar 2°C 14 days 53,136

7. biosecurity built on science
Collated data on New Zealand and Australian fresh fruit and vegetable
industries:
 Value and volume of major fruit and vegetable exports
 Main export markets
 Current phytosanitary requirements
 Existing export protocols
Review of current market access protocols

8. biosecurity built on science
Crop Total Export
value and
Volume
Value of major
markets
Market access
pests
Approved treatments
Citrus
Orange
$140.0 million
134,448 t
Japan 34.0
Hong Kong 27.6
USA 16.2
China 14.4
Malaysia 11.4
Singapore 8.8
Canada 5.1
Indonesia 3.6
UAE 2.1
Japan: Qfly,
Medfly
China: Fruit
flies
Thailand:
Fuller’s rose
weevil (FRW),
fruit flies
USA: Fruit flies,
lightbrown
apple moth
(LBAM), Citrus
black spot
(CBS)
Indonesia:
1. Fruit fly free areas recognised: Riverland, South
Australia and Tasmania.
2. Cold treatments: onshore or in transit at or below
2°C for 16 days; or at or below 3°C for 18 days.
3. Irradiation at 150 gray.
4. Fumigation with methyl bromide at 64 g/m3 at
21°C for 2 h.
China:
1. Citrus spp., Oranges, Mandarins, Lemons,
Grapefruit, Limes, Tangelo.
2.Mandatory cold disinfestation treatment is required,
onshore or in transit 1°C or below for 16 d or 2.1°C
or below for 21 d.

9. biosecurity built on science
 We can see
- WHAT the various industries are exporting
- To WHERE
- Pests and diseases of concern
 We know what research has been conducted
 and what has translated into protocols
 Which protocols are being used, or NOT, but why not?
 Which protocols are being used grudgingly?
 Where do new protocols need to be developed with additional research?
 We know what technology is available.
Review completed

10. biosecurity built on science
 Presented findings from review at workshops with
stakeholders
- Citrus, Mango, Apple, Pear, Kiwifruit, Summerfruit,
Cherry, Table grape, Capsicum, Tomato, Berryfruit,
Vegetables
- Hort Innovation, HortNZ, PBCRC
- DAWR, MPI, Exporters, quarantine treatment providers
 What are your:
• Target markets?
• Market access issues?
• Useful and useless protocols?
• Priorities for disinfestation research?
Workshops in Australia and NZ

11. biosecurity built on science
 Fruit flies remain primary pest of concern (Aust. and NZ)
 Other pests FRW, MSW, thrips, mealybugs, scale insects,
mites, light brown apple moth and codling moth
 Development of postharvest disinfestation treatments to
enable market access by air-freight
 Irradiation, methyl bromide, shorter cold treatments
 Current cold treatments would be more useful if they were
consistent between markets
 NZ fruit fly preparedness: collection of efficacy data on 4 major
species that are a threat
 Qfly and Medfly (Aust.)
 Oriental fruit fly and Melon fly (exotic)
Several cross industry priorities identified

12. biosecurity built on science
Priority List for Phase 2
Develop new disinfestation protocols appropriate for air-
freight
- irradiation, low dose methyl bromide
Short cold treatments – combine with CA
Data required on exotic fruit flies – Oriental fruit fly and
melon fly and compared with Qfly and Medfly.
Standardisation of cold treatments across markets
Phase2
CRCproject
New
Hort
Innovation
projects

13. biosecurity built on science
Improve the efficacy of cold treatment in
combination with controlled atmospheres:
 Confirm the efficacy of high CO2
 Compare different cold treatments with high CO2
 Assess efficacy of different high CO2 combinations
 Determine the effects of different lengths of treatment
times
 Assess the addition of ethyl formate into high CO2
treatment
Shorter cold treatments

14. biosecurity built on science
 Compare cold morality response data for 4 key fruit fly species:
- Queensland fruit fly, Medfly – occur in Australia, not NZ
- Oriental fruit fly and melon fly – exotic to Australia and NZ
 Compare the scientific methods used between laboratories
 Statistics workshop to compare data analysis between
laboratories and discuss quarantine statistics
 Identify gaps for the relevant fruit fly species
 Possibly conduct trials to determine the comparative
tolerances of 4 species using common methods and data
analysis
Fruit fly preparedness

15. biosecurity built on science
 Prevent disruption to trade in the event an exotic incursion
 1995 B. dorsalis incursion into North Queensland stopped the trade of
mangoes to Japan
 Containment within the quarantine zone prevented loss of trade of
many commodities to many export markets
 Another incursion would STOP all trade into quarantine markets
 Comparative data sets are required
Benefits

16. biosecurity built on science
 Horticultural industries are the main beneficiaries
- Prioritisation of disinfestation research
- Development of new ‘workable’ export protocols
- Preparedness for exotic incursions
 DAWR as the market access negotiators are an important end user
 We have taken a proactive role in engaging with DAWR from the start of
the project to give us the best chance of a useful outcome
 Early engagement with DAWR, MPI and Industry has already produced
useful feedback for the project
Beneficiaries and end-users

17. biosecurity built on science
For more information, please email:
Lisa.Jamieson@plantandfood.co.nz – Project leader
Project team members:
 John Golding, NSW DPI
 Pauline Wyatt, DAF QLD
 Peter Leach, DAF QLD
 Frances De Lima, AgHort Solutions, WA
 Jack Armstrong, Quarantine Scientific, NZ
 Peter Follett, USDA-ARS, Hawaii
 Allan Woolf, PFR NZ
 Barbara Waddell, PFR NZ