The Khapra beetle threat has made its way to Australian shores, with the pest being detected at ports across the country, particularly in products from Southeast Asia.
The Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) said that exporters and importers must be vigilant against this pest as the federal government takes action to prevent khapra beetle from establishing in Australia.
Related: Gov’t announces measures to protect grain exports from khapra beetle pest
Khapra beetle is a serious, highly invasive insect. It poses a major threat to Australia’s primary production, biosecurity and environment.
The insect is a pest of grains, dried fruit, rice and nuts, which stows away as a hitchhiker on a wide range of cargo. Infestations have been found in commodities including refrigerators, packaging for baby highchairs and plastic beads.
Australia is currently free of khapra beetle. Austrade emphasises its importance for the country’s agricultural sector for two reasons:
First, freedom from khapra beetle makes Australia a preferred exporter to other khapra beetle-free countries.
Second, Australia’s khapra beetle-free status is integral in maintaining access to international markets. Seven of the top 10 grain markets are free from khapra beetle. Australia may lose or have restricted access to these markets if khapra beetle is established domestically.
The Australian Government is taking action to minimise the risk of khapra beetle entering Australia. It is implementing these urgent actions in phases. The actions will lead to changes to import conditions for plant products and sea containers.
These actions include the following:
For exporters and importers, they are encouraged to use shipping companies that have processes in place to minimise khapra beetle contamination.
Currently, Australia’s largest grain export markets are China, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Yemen.
Austrade reveals that seven of the countries above are free from khapra beetle.
The Australian Government is committed to continuously improving our biosecurity against hitchhiker pests like khapra beetle. The Government has committed $97 million to improve biosecurity in the 2021–22 budget.
Source: Austrade insights
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