Biological collections are an essential part of the plant health system, facilitating plant product exports, underpinning emergency incursion responses, and ensuring exotic pests on imports do not damage local producers or the environment. The National Plant Pest Reference Collections Strategy 2018 aims to ensure that biological collections can continue to support Australia’s trade and biosecurity. The strategy recommends a diverse, dispersed system of reference collections with a similar diverse, dispersed system of information management and transfer.
The strategy addresses the following points:
- the lack of verified specimens of many of the National Priority Plant Pests
- the need to coordinate the plant health, trade and biosecurity functions of collections
- the need for clear standards to prevent specimen deterioration
- how to improve the exchange of information between collections
- communication between collections and other parts of the plant health diagnostic system
- support for collections.
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