Articles
QUARANTINE AND MARKET ACCESS
The export of apples from New Zealand to Australia and South Africa is still prohibited for the same reason.
In 1993, as a result of extensive research, regulations were developed with Japan Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries to meet the requirements of the plant quarantine system for fresh apples imported from New Zealand.
The system requires: (i) the designation of specific orchards for export, each surrounded by a 500 m zone containing no fire blight infected hosts; (ii) orchard and 500 m zone inspections for fire blight during the apple blossom period, at the fruitlet stage, and at harvest; and iii) a chlorine dipping treatment of harvested apples, using sodium hypochlorite, to disinfest fruit surfaces from possible contamination with Erwinia amylovora. Confirmation of the New Zealand Ministry of Agriculture export inspection by Japan MAFF plant quarantine officials is done during the harvest orchard inspection and by inspecting ≥5% of the total number of fruit packages per consignment to ensure that fruit does not show symptoms of fire blight and that no injurious pests are present.
Recent research suggests that some of the steps in the present system may be unnecessary thus providing an opportunity for possible renegotiations of the developed regulations.