Fire Blight as a new biosecurity issue for Tasmania; the apple and pear industry in Austrialia must recognise the lifting of a 90-year trade ban on NZ apples in the context of globalisation after the setting up of thw World Trade Organisation in ~1996.

Tasmania and Australia - especially the apple & pear industry - need to get far more clever if it believes that NZ apple imports will be a substantial risk to the local growers’ orchards.

There is a difference between sheer tokenism that is a mere fig-leaf for trade protectionism for locally produced agricultural produce and biosecurity science that assesses the entry risk of this bacterial plant disease-agent via commercial imports.

Use your noggin Taz-maniacs or just spit out the NZ apple pips!

at least the fireblight will not come into tassie or australia on pears -. pears are very susceptable/vulnerable to fireblight & the presence of fireblight in nz is one of the main reasons that the growing of pears in nz is insignificant.

the goulburn valley (& other victorian)apple & pear growers used to be against the import of nz apples with fireblight as it would , if introduced to the goulburn valley have decimated the apple & pear industry, as it would spread easily given the warm/hot & humid growing conditions & also they stated that this would cause the closure of one of the two major canneries - ardmona or shepparton.

guess what - the ardmona cannery is closing & not one nz apple has yet been imported into the goulburn valley,

caused by issues involving negotiations between spc ( coca cola - ccl) with coles & woollies as to how much margin the powerful supermarket duopsonists will allow spc to actually make on processed pears, stonefruits & tomato products.

could be interesting opportunity for tassie (to massively expand its pear growing) if/when fireblight gets into mainland australia & really gets going in the apples & pears in the warm & humid goulburn valley (vic) , orange (nsw) or stanthorpe (qld) & other areas.

Perhaps the crux of this particular biosecurity issue can be distilled down to: Are the import measures applied to NZ apples stringent enough to prevent whole fresh apples from New Zealand being a likely source of index fire blight infection for Australian (and Tasmanian) pome fruit orchards?

If NZ whole apples are a risk and it can be tested and proven to be so… Australia, under WTO rules - can ban those imports.