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 Filippino bananas unlikely to ever arrive in Aus 

Filippino bananas unlikely to ever arrive in Aus

02 Jul, 2009 09:53 AM
IT is unlikely that bananas from The Philippines will ever make it into Australia if the Government is guided by the findings from a Senate inquiry into the matter, released last week.

The report calls for Biosecurity Australia to clearly spell out the specific arrangements in place before importation is allowed.

It found inadequacies in the risk assessment process and said import permits must be subject to independent scrutiny before importation is allowed.

The report has been welcomed by banana growers but they have called for greater transparency in the biosecurity process in order to restore the confidence of farmers in Australia's quarantine system.

Queensland Nationals Senator, Ron Boswell, and member of the committee investigating the import risk analysis process allowing the Filipino imports into Australia, said one of the good things about the Senate report was that it had unanimous support from across the political spectrum.

He said the report noted a guarantee given by Biosecurity Australia and AQIS that if Australia was going to import bananas from the Philippines, Australia would need to have people on the ground in that country in the packing sheds, on the farms, and wharves looking for the presence of pests and diseases that could compromise Australia's clean and green status.

"The recommendations make it sufficiently tough enough that it would be very difficult to bring bananas in, and very costly," Senator Boswell said.

"I think the industry should be happy with these because they will have to be consulted on the protocols before the importers are given access to bring the bananas to Australia."

He said there was no application for such imports from the Philippines and no request for a permit and the report was the best outcome for the industry because it specifically spelt out what the protocols would be.

While welcoming the report, Australian Banana Growers Council chief executive, Tony Heidrich, said stakeholder confidence in the IRA process was "paramount".

"Biosecurity Australia needs to develop a culture of transparency in order to regain that confidence," he said.

"There are no second chances with many of the banana diseases present in the Philippines. If they end up in Australia then commercial banana production in this country will become unviable and thousands of jobs in rural areas will be lost."

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