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Tomato brown wrinkled fruit virus.
photo: New Zealand Tomato
Biosecurity New Zealand has suspended all Australian tomato imports and will review them within seven days. Detection of Tomato Brown Fruit Virus.
The Ministry of Primary Industries has previously suspended the export of some Australian products Wednesday But tomatoes are still allowed to be imported from Queensland because the virus is not present there, and seeds that may contain the virus are being tested.
Tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV), which affects tomatoes, capsicums and chillies, has been found on two farms in South Australia.
The virus causes spots, discoloration and deformities in fruits, affecting their market value, but has no impact on human health.
Biosecurity New Zealand said it was taking an extremely cautious approach.
The tomatoes New Zealand imports come from Queensland, where no signs of the virus have been found.
Stuart Anderson, Deputy Director of Biosecurity New Zealand, said: Checkpoints Australia still has a lot of work to do in tracking the virus around the two properties in South Australia.
Anderson said no tomatoes would be imported from across the Tasman until that work was completed.
“The rule will come into effect from today and we will review it in seven days and hopefully have a fuller picture of the situation at both properties from the Australian side.”
He added there was no indication the virus had arrived in New Zealand.
“We do a very routine and rigorous review of this.”
Anderson said he was confident the two nuclear power plants had no connection to South Australia and Queensland.
While the virus can also affect capsicums and peppers, he said there was no evidence of any link to these, particularly from Queensland, where our tomatoes, capsicums and peppers are imported from.
“But obviously the situation is changing and we are monitoring it very closely with Australia, with industry and if anything changes we are ready to take action.”
New Zealand Tomato Association president Barry O’Neill told Radio New Zealand on Wednesday that greenhouse tomato growers were very concerned about the findings.
“If ToBRFV spread to New Zealand it could have dire consequences for our greenhouse tomato and pepper industries as the virus spreads extremely quickly and has huge impacts on production, with crop losses of up to 80 per cent reported.
“The best line of defence is to stop the virus coming into New Zealand. We are in discussions with government officials and industry about how to achieve this.”
O’Neill said the second-best defense is for growers to follow strict sanitation measures and try to prevent ToBRFV from getting onto specific fields if it does enter the country.
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