Khapra beetle threatens export markets in Australia

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:

• Goods packed in a khapra beetle risk country will be treated offshore
• High-risk plant products will be treated offshore
• High-risk plant products in unaccompanied personal effects and low-value freight will be banned
• High-risk plant products in accompanied baggage, through international travellers or mail articles, will be banned.
• Australia has linked two-thirds of interceptions to shipping containers transporting products susceptible to the pest

For exporters and importers, they are encouraged to use shipping companies that have processes in place to minimise khapra beetle contamination.

• Austrade specifically suggests these actions:
• maintain cleanliness in containers and storage areas, and when packing goods in containers
• use higher-grade containers. For example, containers with no floorboard cracks to reduce the risk of sheltering pests
• take extra precautions when containers are coming from high-risk countries or contain high-risk products. For example, inspecting the cargo
• at port, or checking the shipping container before loading.

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