Biosecurity Irradiation and strategic trade

Realising strategic trade solutions for industry growth

This summer season has presented a new combination of challenges for many of Australia’s fruit crops, writes Mathew Jones of Produce Plus.

These challenges have drawn attention to the value of building dynamic supply chains with strategic market access.

While air freight capacity has been impacted during the pandemic, it continues to be a unique point of differentiation for Australian grape exports competing against sea freight from countries such as Chile, Peru and South Africa.

Air freight has been used by importers to manage risk, able to scale up and down quickly to match demand while helping manage cash flow and quality.

The flexibility and effectiveness of market access is critical to enabling industry to realise demand and to pivot as markets require. One treatment that is proving strategic for this is irradiation.

This chemical-free option is recognised as generically effective for almost any insect in any crop. It is a rapid process that maintains the cold chain avoiding any risk of heat related damage. It offers a quality friendly, simple one stop solution for fruit fly.

Australian Table Grape Association CEO Jeff Scott said the ATGA was currently working with the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment and irradiation facility Steritech to “pursue additional irradiation protocols having seen the success in exports to Vietnam and New Zealand”.

“We hope to see the treatment added for markets like Thailand in the short to mid-term,” Jeff said. “We also have efforts to pursue market access improvement by adding the treatment option to North East Asian market protocols.”

Irradiation is also a tool available for domestic trade. The success of domestic biosecurity is important to Australia’s export market access.

“A significant volume of Australia’s grape trade is reliant on ensuring South Australia and Tasmania remain fruit fly free,” Jeff said. “It would be good to see ICA-55 used more commonly for interstate trade of all fruit crops. The reliability and quality of the treatment protects Australian grape growers and enhances trade opportunities.”

Steritech fresh produce manager Ben Reilly recently spoke with Produce Plus, sharing that ICA-55 had been used more widely this season.

“We have experienced a large increase in premium interstate consignments of summer fruit, mangoes, berries and fruiting veg,” Ben said. “This has been shipping via market agents to leading independent retailers in Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia.”

“Australia uses irradiation for fruit shipping east to west to protect Queensland fruit fly (Q-fly) free states. I would like to see the Melbourne facility used to equally protect eastern states from Mediterranean fruit fly (Med-fly).

“The Melbourne x-ray facility is set up to securely receive and treat interstate shipments however states must establish operational work plans to allow the fruit access to the facility.

“Irradiation is one of the most reliable end point treatments available in the fight against fruit fly. In over 15 years of use we have had zero treatment failures identified. A perfect record.”

Produce Plus visited Steritech’s Melbourne x-ray facility late last year to see the latest generation of irradiation technology in use. The highly automated process operates by turning electricity into x-rays.

Since this visit, Steritech has commissioned the facility’s first stage of solar infrastructure, which will offset more than 3500 pallets of fruit treatments per year. v

Mathew Jones Produce Plus www.fruitnet.com/produceplus