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Ban NZ apples, says grower
25 Feb 2004
Gippsland apple growers Brad and Glynn Fankhauser say they've been let down by Biosecurity Australia's latest draft report for the importation of New Zealand apples. They say the Federal Government has put the Australian apple industry at risk. If fire blight enters the country the industry may be badly damaged.
Brad Fankhauser said if the disease enters his orchard he would have to destroy 18,000 trees. Mr Fankhauser is concerned about apple imports from NZ orchards deemed to be free of fire blight symptoms. He wonders how a "disease-free" orchard can be defined, as there are no control zones around affected orchards.
The Drouin apple growers say there's no proof that Biosecurity Australia's quarantine conditions are based on strong scientific evidence: BA hasn't shown conclusively that the procedures remove any threat of fire blight entering Australia.
Weekly Times, 25/2/04, page 3.
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