Australia, Import of Apiaceous Crop Seeds for Sowing

August 15, 2017

On September 21, 2017 the WTO issued a notification on the review of the Australian Government Department of Agriculture and Water Resources in response to confirmation that ‘Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum’ can be seed-borne and transmitted in apiaceous crops (anise, caraway, carrot, celery, chervil, coriander, cumin, fennel, parsnip and parsley seed). This review evaluates the effectiveness of existing risk management measures for identified biosecurity risks and proposes additional mandatory phytosanitary measures to reduce the risk of introduction of the identified quarantine pests for Australia. A summary and contact information for comments (final date: 13 November 2017) are available here.

Note: This is the first in a series of vegetable seed policy reviews. Other families of vegetable seeds being reviewed are: Cucurbitaceae (cucumber, gourd, melon, etc.); Brassicaceae (cauliflower, cabbage, etc.); and Solanaceae (capsicum, eggplant, tomato, etc.)