On The Land
1 August, 2026
Pineapple import concerns
A PEAK group representing fruit and vegetable growers will undertake a comprehensive review of the Australian Government’s draft import risk assessment for fresh de-crowned pineapples from India and Indonesia.
The release of the draft report marks the beginning of a 60-day public consultation period, with Queensland Fruit & Vegetable Growers (QFVG) vowing to examine every aspect of the report.
The national body says it will be paying particular attention to the quarantine pests identified in the assessment and the proposed measures to manage those risks as part of the review before preparing a formal submission to the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF).
The draft report identifies hard scale insects, mealybugs, and cotton thrips as quarantine pests requiring risk management before imports can be permitted.
QFVG says it will carefully assess whether the proposed measures achieve Australia’s Appropriate Level of Protection (ALOP) and provide Australian growers with the level of biosecurity protection they expect.
The organisation says Australian growers should not be expected to carry the consequences if an exotic pest became entrenched here.
“Every assumption, every proposed mitigation measure, and every conclusion in this report will be rigorously tested,” a spokesperson said.
The draft report proposes treatments including methyl bromide fumigation, irradiation or heat treatment to manage the identified pest risks. QFVG will be working with technical experts to determine whether those measures provide the level of protection required to safeguard Australia’s pineapple industry.
It will also work closely with pineapple growers, technical experts, and biosecurity specialists throughout the consultation period.
