Fed: ALP would dump NZ apples report

AAP General News (Australia)
08-04-2004
Fed: ALP would dump NZ apples report

CANBERRA, Aug 4 AAP - A Labor government would demand a new import risk analysis into
New Zealand apples, opposition agriculture spokesman Gavan O'Connor said today.

Mr O'Connor said with so many problems with the current analysis of Kiwi apples, it
should be scrapped and replaced with another.

It follows the report released earlier this year that found NZ apples could be safely
imported under heavy restrictions.

For the past 80 years NZ apples have been banned from Australia for fear of bringing
with them the disease fireblight.

Australian apple and pear growers fear fireblight would wipe out huge sections of the
industry and ramp up control costs.

Mr O'Connor said a Victorian Department of Primary Industries analysis of the import
risk analysis had found it significantly underestimated the risk and spread of fireblight
and European canker.

"Australia has a proud and strong record of basing our quarantine regime on sound science,"

he said in a statement.

"It is essential that we rebuild the credibility of our quarantine regime and the only
way to achieve that goal in relation to apples, as it is with the assessment of banana
imports, is to start again."

AAP sw/sb/jnb/sd

KEYWORD: APPLES

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