Western Australia has rejected a Federal proposal to import New Zealand apples, but appears less concerned about a proposal to open the market up to imported pig meat.
Commenting on a recent WA Department of Agriculture submission, which rejects the apple proposal, State Agriculture Minister Kim Chance, said he remained convinced not to lift WA’s bans on apple imports.
“More consultation and further analysis is required before I would be convinced to lift the present ban on [apple] imports under the State’s Plant Diseases Act,” Mr Chance said in a statement last week.
Unlike the situation with apples, however, a spokesman for Mr Chance told WA Business News the State had been properly consulted over the pig meat proposal, which was in its final stages.
“The pork IRA is now in its final form, whereas because the apples IRA is still in draft form we have more opportunity to question its process,” the spokesman said.
Federal quarantine agency Biosecurity Australia’s import risk analyses on both apples and pigmeat have so far been strongly resisted by both industries nationwide.
The pig meat IRA has been met with a legal challenge by Australia Pork Limited, while WA apple and pear growers are greatly concerned about the importation of pests into WA’s strictly controlled orchards.
Submissions to the Federal quarantine agency Biosecurity Australia’s draft import risk analysis (IRA) on New Zealand apples closed on June 30.
In its submission to BA on its revised draft analysis, the WA Department of Agriculture raised concerns about the specific risks to WA compared with Australia as a whole.
It also advised BA that it does not support the analysis moving to the final stages without Western Australian stakeholders being properly consulted.
Meanwhile, the West Australian Pork Producers’ Association continues to pressure the Federal and State governments in a bid to stop the relaxation of import protocols.
But Mr Chance’s spokesman said his office was seeking further detail from WAPPA on exactly what further actions it was seeking support for.
WAPPA’s newly appointed executive officer, Russell Cox, said WAPPA would meet the WA Government to discuss a number of issues, including the pigmeat IRA.
