One of Australia’s main apple-growing districts, Batlow in southern New South Wales, has been declared a natural disaster area after a hail storm inflicted severe damage on apple orchards last week, destroying an estimated 60 per cent of next year’s Batlow crop. Batlow is located at the base of the Riverina Highlands, 450kms south-west of Sydney. Apples are a major crop in the State of NSW, with most grown in Batlow. They are grown from spring blossom and harvested from late summer through to... ...Read more »

The State of Tasmania is seeking to maintain import restrictions on New Zealand apples. The move comes despite the fact that regulator Biosecurity Australia yesterday gave the green light to the importation of New Zealand apples into Australia. Last year, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) found Australia’s biosecurity and quarantine standards stopping New Zealand apples exported to Australia to be in breach of WTO rules. In a statement passed on to Australian Food News, the Tasmanian Premier Lara... ...Read more »

Apple growers across Australia today launched a fightback against the apple import trade. The move comes following officially authorised shipments of apples being imported from New Zealand. This follows the decision of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 2010 that found Australia’s biosecurity and quarantine standards to breach WTO rules. Apple growers have taken the step of branding locally grown apple with an ‘Aussie Apples’ sticker, allowing consumers to choose home-grown apples at the... ...Read more »

The Australian Government has accepted the Wold Trade Organisation Appellate Body’s decision to allow New Zealand apples to be imported into Australia, after an appeal was rejected this week. The Government said that it has accepted the decision and will now proceed with a science-based review of the import risk analysis for New Zealand apples, to be conducted by Biosecurity Australia. Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Senator Joe Ludwig, and Minister for Trade, Craig Emerson,... ...Read more »

The World Trade Organisation has publicly released its final ruling, vetoing stringent Australian quarantine rules and allowing the widespread importation of New Zealand apples into Australia. The 598-page ruling was released on Monday, and found that the import risk analysis underpinning Australia’s stringent requirements for New Zealand apples is ‘not sufficiently supported by scientific evidence’ and that the requrements are ‘unduly trade-restrictive’. The relevant... ...Read more »

A genetic glitch in some Gala apple trees, which stops cells from dividing, has been found to result in apples which are almost double the size of their normal counterparts. Peter Hirst, a Purdue University associate professor of horticulture, found that the apples with the anomaly – called Grand Galas – produced fruit that were around 38% heavier, with a 15% greater diameter, than regular Galas. “It’s never been found in apples before,” Hirst said. “This is an... ...Read more »

The Federal Government has given the green light to apple imports from China today, following a recommendation by Biosecurity Australia. Fears of infestation by the spotted-wing fruit fly, Drosophila suzukii, a pest present in China and indigenous to south-east Asia, have caused concern among Australian apple growers, particularly because the original risk analysis did not cover this insect. A final risk analysis from Biosecurity Australia, released yesterday, includes a reference to spotted wing... ...Read more »

The federal government has announced a grant of $100,000 for fruit marketing company Towac Fruit Export Cooperative to develop a strategic plan to help build the competitiveness and resilience of the Australian apple industry, and to maintain domestic and global competitiveness. Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Tony Burke said the apple industry plays an important role in supporting regional communities, with apples being produced in all states. “Australia’s apple production in... ...Read more »

The World Trade Organisation is expected to formally rule that Australia’s stringent quarantine restrictions on New Zealand apples are unfair, ending a 90 year long lockout on bringing the fruit from NZ into Australia. While no formal announcement has been made by either government or the WTO, The Trans Tasman Political Letter announced that the ban had been overruled after obtaining a leaked copy of the draft report. The ban was originally implemented in the 1920s to prevent the spread of... ...Read more »

UK supermarket chain Sainsbury’s has begun using a new pest control technique to combat moth infestation by turning the insects gay. Three orchards are now established using the new technique, which involves spraying male moths with an imitation of female pheromones, causing males to become attracted to other males, which disrupts the breeding cycle and vastly reduces the number of viable moth eggs. Codling moths (Cydia pomonella) can devastate apple crops, as well as attacking pears and other... ...Read more »