The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) has determined that Xylella fastidiosa (Xylella) is present in mainland China. As a result, China is now considered to be a high-risk country for Xylella.
This is significant news for our industry, as Xylella is the #1 risk for olives and the key priority in the new levy project updating the Olive Biosecurity Plan.
Enhanced regulatory measures for imports
From 31 January 2025, enhanced regulatory measures will be introduced for imported host nursery stock from China to ensure effective reduction of the risk of Xylella entering Australia. The measures will require Xylella host nursery stock material (tissue culture and non-tissue culture) from China to undergo increased testing, treatment and pre-export certification.
Xylella emergency measures are also being updated to transition from regulating host nursery stock at the plant family level, to the genus level. This manages the potential for Xylella to enter via new (unreported) host species, while continuing to safely facilitate trade in line with our international obligations.
A list of Xylella host genera is available on the department’s website.
Due to the scale of required amendments across the Biosecurity Import Conditions (BICON) system and import permits, these changes will be implemented in two phases:
Phase 1: Recognition of China as a high-risk country for Xylella, with enhanced import regulations applied to host nursery stock genera on 31 January 2025.
Phase 2: Transition to genus level regulations for all other exporting countries by the end of 2025. Current import conditions will apply until they are updated.
There’s more detailed information on the DAFF website here.
