Apple growers fear economic and biosecurity wipeout as US eyes market

In short:

The United States is a step closer to exporting apples to Australia, as import conditions and procedures are drafted and finalised.

Australian growers have held urgent talks with trade officials to ensure strict biosecurity controls are put in place.

What's next?

Concerns remain about the economic impact of the imports, as well as the potential spread of exotic diseases.

Australia's apple industry has held urgent talks in Canberra as the United States edges closer to exporting its fruit to Australia.

Following decades of lobbying, American growers were given the green light by Australia in 2022 to send their apples across the Pacific.

Before shipments begin, the Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) needs to publish import conditions on its biosecurity website.

That has not happened yet.

But according to industry group Apple and Pear Australia Limited (APAL), it is getting closer.

"The US government has just recently … brought it back to the table to discuss with the federal government," APAL general manager Jeremy Griffith said.

"So that's got a lot of growers in this country very, very concerned."

Apple giant

The United States is the second-largest apple-growing country in the world behind China, with the bulk of production in the Pacific Northwest, including Washington.

"They export a lot of them," Mr Griffith said.

"Our understanding is they have a very large surplus of apples in America at the moment, and they're looking for a home to send them to."

Mr Griffith said the imports would have "a significant impact upon the very viability of all our orchards".

"Because we're a very good free-trading country, we're not allowed to consider the economic implications of this," Mr Griffith said.

"We can only look at biosecurity issues."

At the moment, nearly all apples consumed in Australia are grown locally, with less than 1 per cent imported from China and New Zealand.

"Having the US to come in would [be] a very direct threat, and it goes to the heart of our own food security," Mr Griffith said.

A DAFF spokesperson confirmed the department was in "ongoing discussions with the US" about apple imports.

But the spokesperson did not say how long that process was likely to take.

"[DAFF] has not finalised the procedures the US will use to meet the recommended risk management measures," the spokesperson said.

"The department has engaged regularly with Australia's apple industry, through Apple and Pear Australia Ltd (APAL), on the import risk analysis for fresh apple fruit from Pacific Northwest USA."

Biosecurity nerves

The federal government's risk analysis report identified a host of biosecurity concerns.

Fire blight, a destructive bacterial disease, was of most concern to growers, but there were multiple other exotic diseases that also have them worried.

"Top of the list is fire blight, [but] you've got apple maggots, you've got leaf curling midges, you've got canker, lots of different types of rots and rusts," Mr Griffith said.

His biggest fear was that Australia's biosecurity system would not be strong enough to keep them out, citing the varroa mite incursion as an example.

"That's already having a profound impact upon all our bee colonies," he said.

APAL rushed to Canberra last week to meet with DAFF officials.

"They're very, very conscious of the biosecurity risk," Mr Griffith said.

"We think there's enough red flags out there for the government to respond appropriately to ensure that proper protections are in place."

Fire blight would be 'catastrophic'

Half of Australia's apples are grown in Victoria's Goulburn and Murray Valleys.

The region sits within the federal seat of Nicholls, held by Nationals member and opposition agriculture spokesperson Sam Birrell.

"I'm very concerned because of the biosecurity risk," said Mr Birrell, who has a background in agricultural science and also worked in the fruit industry.

"The USA has fire blight, Australia does not, and we cannot allow fire blight to come in."

"It would be catastrophic for the apple and pear industry, an industry which is critical to Australia."

Australia allows apple imports from New Zealand, where fire blight has been present for more than a century.

But Mr Birrell said the "stringent biosecurity regulations" in place for the nation's trans-Tasman neighbour have meant "we haven't seen a lot of New Zealand apples here".

"Biosecurity needs to be number one," he said.

"I've seen what fire blight has done to apple orchards in the United States and I've seen what they have to do to deal with it."

GM apples

Five varieties of genetically modified (GM) apples are sold in the United States, but there are no GM varieties in Australia.

Mr Birrell said the move towards GM in the US shows what happens when diseases cause widespread problems.

"[It] explains what can happen when a new disease as catastrophic as fire blight gets into Australia," Mr Birrell said.

"We don't want to go down that path."

The ABC also contacted Agriculture Minister Julie Collins for comment.