National Manager, Fruit Fly Council, Darryl Barbour, attended a meeting of local growers, Young Shire Council, NSW DPI Policy, Research and Extension Officers, and HIA Queensland Fruit Fly Area Wide Management Coordinator, Penny Measham. Young is a good example of the benefits of managing of fruit flies at the community level to minimise the risk in nearby commercial crop production areas. More

The Intergovernmental Agreement on Biosecurity (IGAB) is an agreement between the Commonwealth, and state and territory governments of Australia (except Tasmania), which establishes nationally agreed approaches to prevent, prepare for, detect and mitigate biosecurity risks and respond to, manage and recover from biosecurity incidents should they occur. More

The National Surveillance Workshop for 2016 was held in Melbourne on 24 and 25 May. The workshop was an initiative of the Australian Government Department of Agriculture and Water Resources and addressed one of the recommendations of the National Plant Biosecurity Surveillance Strategy to provide mechanisms to establish and coordinate nationally integrated biosecurity surveillance systems. More

The National Xylella Preparedness Workshop was held on 1 June 2016 in Melbourne, funded by the Australian Government Department of Agriculture and Water Resources (DAWR).

The workshop was organised by PHA’s Sharyn Taylor and Victoria Ludowici (with guidance provided by DAWR and Horticulture Innovation Australia) and a number of workshops were facilitated by Stephen Dibley, Program Manager, Training & Biosecurity Preparedness. More

Plant Health Australia (PHA) PHA May Member Meetings were on 31 May.

Led by Susanna Driessen, General Manager Emergency Preparedness and Response, the Parties to the Emergency Plant Pest Response Deed (EPPRD) discussed a number of matters arising from the 2015 Review of the Emergency Plant Pest Response Deed, including means to develop a more robust system for decision making, improving equity for those who report suspect Emergency Plant Pests, improved support and clarification in financial management of response plans and administration of Owner Reimbursement Costs. More

The future looks brighter for Australian horticulture due to the finalisation of biosecurity plans for the pineapple, tomato, blueberry and tree nut industries, Plant Health Australia (PHA) announced this week.

With the development of these plans, all of the 36 industry members of PHA have now been through this process, a significant achievement that safeguards future production. More

A communique has been released following the inaugural meeting on 23 March of the Northern Australia Biosecurity Framework Reference Group, set up to strengthen biosecurity across northern Australia and support a collaborative approach to new northern Australia biosecurity projects. More

More draft delegated legislation is available for public comment.

Public consultation is now open for the following draft determinations and will close on 17 May 2016:

• Biosecurity (Prohibited and Conditionally Non-prohibited Goods) Determination 2016
• Biosecurity (Reportable Biosecurity Incidents) Determination 2016

The draft goods determination outlines the items that cannot be imported into Australia under any circumstances, such as the live foot and mouth disease virus. More

Members of Plant Health Australia (PHA) are reminded that the next meetings will be on 31 May 2016 at the Holiday Inn, Melbourne Airport. The member meetings will be followed by a special workshop on 1 June about Xylella fastidiosa, an invasive bacterial plant pathogen that affects over 200 commercial and ornamental plant species. More

Membership of the recently established National Fruit Fly Council (NFFC) has been broadened and a full time manager appointed to assist the Council carry out its mission to coordinate fruit fly management activities at a national level.

The NFFC brings together government and industry members to drive the delivery of a national system that prevents fruit flies being a constraint to sustainable production or a barrier to trade and market access. More