Risk Management Proposal:  
Amendments to  the import health standards  
Actinidia Plants for Planting  
Citrus Plants for Planting  
Importation of Nursery Stock  
Prunus Plants for Planting  
Seeds for Sowing  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Prepared for  public consultation   
by Plant Germplasm Imports  
Animal and Plant Health Directorate  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
April  2023 
 
 
Disclaimer  
 
While every effort has been made to ensure the information in this publication is accurate, the  Ministry  for 
Primary Industries does not accept any responsibility or liability for error of fact, omission, interpretation or 
opinion that may be present, nor for the consequences of any decisions based on this information.  
 
This publication is also available on the Ministry for Primary Industries  website at  
http://www.mpi.govt.nz/news -and-resources/publications/   
 
 
© Crown Copyright – Ministry  for Primary Industries   
i Contents  Page 
 
1 General information  1 
1.1 Purpose  1 
1.2 Who should read this?  1 
1.3 How the amended standards will affect you  1 
1.4 What is changing  2 
1.5 Why have we done this work  2 
1.6 What you can do  2 
1.7 Legal notice about your feedback and Official Information Act 1982  3 
2 Scope of this review  3 
3 Proposed changes to risk management measures  3 
4 Rationale for removing biological indexing  7 
5 Feasibility of the proposed changes to the standard  7 
6 References  8 
7 Appendix - proposed changes to risk management measures  10 
7.1 Proposed changes to the standar d Actinidia Plants for Planting  10 
7.2 Proposed changes to the standard Citrus Plants for Planting  10 
7.3 Proposed changes to the sta ndard Importation of Nursery Stock  10 
7.4 Proposed changes to the standard Prunus Plants for Planting  13 
7.5 Proposed changes to the standard Seeds for Sowing  14  
Ministry for Primary Industries   Risk Management Proposal – Removing Biological Indexing from Plant Germplasm Standards  • 1 1 General information  
1.1 Purpose  
 This document explains the amendments to the plant germplasm import health standards 
below. We are  proposing to remove requirements for  testing  by biological indexing1 and 
remov e some pests from the following standards : 
a) Actinidia Plants for Planting  
b) Citrus Plants for Planting  
c) Importation of Nursery Stock  
d) Prunus Plants for Planting  
e) Seeds for Sowing  
1.2 Who should read this?  
 Read this if you have an interest in the commodities listed in table 1,  or are: 
a) a New Zealand importer of plants for planting or seeds for sowing,  
b) an exporter , to or from New Zealand, of plants for planting or seeds for sowing,  
c) a national plant protection organisation . 
Table 1: Commodities affected by this proposal  
Commodity  Genus or species  
Plants for Planting 
(nursery stock)  Actinidia , Citrus , Fragaria , Fortunella , Malus , Olea , Prunus , 
Rubus , Solanum tuberosum , Vaccinium , Vitis 
Seeds for Sowing  Actinidia , Fragaria , Malus , Prunus , Pyrus , Ribes , Rubus , 
Vaccinium , Vitis 
1.3 How the amended standards will affect you  
 Importers  will have some benefits . 
a) Your process es will not change . Post-entry quarantine will still be required, and the 
plants  will still be tested for many pests . Plants that were previously t ested onshore 
with biological indexing  will now be tested with  ELISA or PCR.  
b) We are removing some pests for Fragaria , Olea , Prunus , Rubus , 
Solanum  tuberosum , and Vitis plants for planting, so you will no longer need to pay 
for tests for those pests.  
c) Remov ing indexing as a mandatory test will free up space in Level 3B post -entry 
quarantine. With more space available, you may be able to import more varieties 
because quarantine space will only be used for imported plants (not indicator plants 
for indexing).  
 Nothing is changing for  exporters who export plants to New Zealand  or national plant 
protection organisations (NPPOs).  
                                                      
1 Biological indexing is testing based on the ability of indicator plants to produce symptoms when inoculated with a pathogen u sing 
mechanical inoculation (herbaceous indexing) or grafting (graft indexing) and may be used to detect plant pathogens.  2 • Risk Management Proposal – Removing Biological Indexing from Plant Germplasm Standards   Ministry for Primary Industries  
 Nothing is changing for MPI-approved offshore facilit ies. MPI-approved offshore 
facilities  can continue using biological indexing.  
 Nothing  is changing for  horticulturalists  and New Zealand exporters . Your industry  will 
continue to experience the same level of protection from biosecurity risks that it does  
now.  
1.4 What is chang ing 
 We propose removing biological indexing as a diagnostic tool from  all the plant 
germplasm standards.  
 Indexing will be : 
a) removed as a complimentary test to ELISA or PCR  for 78 pests  (where existing 
standards require biological indexing to be done with ELISA or PCR testing) , 
b) replaced by testing using only ELISA or PCR for 44 pests (where existing 
standards require biological indexing as the only test method) , 
c) removed as a test for one Fragaria disease of unknown aetiology  (which will be 
managed  by inspecting plants for symptoms) . 
 We will also remove a ll guidance and sections about  biological indexing requirements .  
 For Fragaria , Olea , Prunus , Rubus , Solanum tuberosum , and Vitis plants for planting , 
we are removing  25 pests from the plants for planting standards . We no longer consider 
these pests biosecurity risks on this pathway, and we will no longer require plants to be 
tested for these pests . 
1.5 Why have we done this work  
 We propos e removing biological indexing from the standards because newer ELISA 
and PCR test s are now able to sufficiently detect the pests listed in this proposal, 
removing the need for biological indexing. This will not change the level of biosecurity 
risk. 
 In addition, removing biological indexing and u sing ELISA and PCR testing alone will 
make more  Level 3B post -entry quarantine space available. C urrently one third of Level 
3B space is used for  growing  indicator  plants  for indexing . 
1.6 What you can do  
 If you  are happy with the changes, you do not need to do anything. If you are interested 
in the de tails, read on.  
 If you want to comment on the amended standards, we are accepting feedback until 5pm 
12/05/2023 . If your feedback arrives after the closing date, we  will hold it  on file and 
consider  it the next time we review  these standards.  Email  your feedback to 
PlantImports@mpi.govt.nz . 
 We are particularly interested in feedback on these questions:  
a) Are our proposals feasible ?  
Ministry for Primary Industries   Risk Management Proposal – Removing Biological Indexing from Plant Germplasm Standards  • 3 b) Do you have knowledge or scientific evidence that we would need to consider 
when manag ing the risk  of: 
i) the 25 pests being removed from the standards , or  
ii) the Fragaria disease of unknown aetiology with basic measures ? 
c) Do you foresee any  consequences from removing biological indexing that we have 
not addressed in this proposal?  
 We base  our requirements on the best scientific information available to us at the time, 
but knowledge is always changing. If you know of more up -to-date scientific 
information that could change our conclusions, include th at information  in your 
feedback.  
 This is a public consultation. We add all feedback we receive to a document (review of 
submissions) that includes our responses and details of any changes we make based on 
feedback. We then publish the review of submissions on our website. This means you 
can see w hat other people have said to us and find out what we have done about it. It 
also means your own feedback, along with your name and organisation, will be online 
and may be read by anyone. See the legal notice below.  
1.7 Legal notice about your feedback and Off icial Information Act 1982  
 Your submission is public information, and it is MPI policy to publish submissions and 
a review of these submissions on the MPI website. Submissions may also be the subject 
of requests for information under the Official Informati on Act 1982 (OIA). The OIA 
specifies that information is to be made available to requesters unless there are 
sufficient grounds for withholding it, as set out in the OIA. Submitters may wish to 
indicate grounds for withholding specific information containe d in their submission, 
such as information being commercially sensitive or personal. Any decision to withhold 
information requested under the OIA is reviewable by the Ombudsman.  
2 Scope of this review   
 This review only addresses  the pests for which the standards  require  biological 
indexing , and all related biological indexing information in the standards. This review 
has not considered any other pests or requirements already set up in the standards.  
 We have  reconsidered how we manage  risk from all pests currently managed by 
biological indexing . 
 We have  not reassessed the  appropriate level of protection in the standards. We are still 
open to considering the validity of indexing as a diagnostic tool  on a case -by-case basis , 
including from MPI -approved offshore facilities.  
3 Proposed changes to risk management measures  
 The appendix outlines all the pests for which the proposed risk management changes 
relate to. For 122 of 148  pests listed in the appendix , we have not reassessed the 
biosecurity risk. This is because we are proposing a change in specific measures that 
provides an equivalent level of protection on the import pathway.  See the appendix for 
the amendment details  for each pest . 4 • Risk Management Proposal – Removing Biological Indexing from Plant Germplasm Standards   Ministry for Primary Industries  
 For the experimental pests on the pest list for Solanum tuberosu m, we propose 
removing  the 13 pests that have indexing listed against them.  This is because they are 
experimental pests only and we do not have any information to suggest that they can 
naturally infect Solanum tuberosum . See the appendix for the amendment details for 
each pest.  
 We reassessed  the biosecurity risk of 13 pests  in the Importation of Nursery Stock and 
Prunus Plants for Planting  standards . This is  because the risk of th ose pests  has 
changed since the measures w ere originally put in the standards.  Table 2 on the next 
page summarises the  characteristics of th ose 13 pests and the proposed changes to how 
we manage risk . 
Table 2: Pests we have reassessed  
Commodity  Pest  Proposed risk management  and i mpac t 
Fragaria  Strawberry 
feather leaf 
disease  Remove from the standard  
This pest should not be regulated on this pathway because the evidence available does 
not suggest this pest poses a significant biosecurity risk on the pathway.  
• The impact from this disease of unknown aetiology is considered to be negligible 
because  there is little information about the disease, and none that helps confirm 
aetiology . 
• There has been no original research published for this disease since 1970 , 
sugges ting this pest  has negligible relevance today . 
Fragaria  Strawberry 
latent C virus  Remove from the standard  
This pest should not be regulated on this pathway because t he evidence available does 
not suggest this pest poses a significant biosecurity risk on the pathway . 
• The impact of th is virus is considered negligible  because v ery little is known about 
the impacts of this virus  in horticulture since the 1990s . There is no new information 
published since the 1990s , suggesting this pest has negligible relevance today . 
• The European Food Safety Authority ha s concluded that this virus does not have 
the potential to be a quarantine pest or a regulated non -quarantine pest, because  it 
does not fulfil the ISPM 11 and 21 cr iteria for a clear identity  (EFSA 2014).  
Fragaria  Strawberry 
lethal decline 
disease  Manage by basic me asures only  
While the aetiology of strawberry lethal decline is not confirmed, it is likely a  phytoplasma 
(CABI 2019). If it is a phytoplasma, generic PCR testing completed for phytoplasmas  on 
Fragaria  is likely sufficient to detect the pathogen (EPPO 2018).  However, if the pest is 
not a phytoplasma, we expect  growing season inspection is proporti onate  with the risk , 
because t he impact of this disease on fruit production is considered minor  (CABI 2019)  
and, while information on symptom expression is sparse, the name suggests symptoms 
would be visible .  
Olea  Olive vein 
yellow virus  Remove from the standard  
This pest should not be regulated on this pathway because the evidence available 
(summarised below) does not suggest this pest poses a significant biosecurity risk on 
the pathway.   
• The likelihood of th is virus entering New Zealand on Olea  plants i s negligible 
because t his virus has only been reported once in 1995 . 
• This virus has negligible relevance today because Faggioli and Barba (1995) 
isolated the virus from a single symptomatic tree and were unable to identify other 
symptomatic trees or isolat e the virus from any asymptomatic trees . 
Prunus  Cherry 
Hungarian 
rasp leaf virus  Remove from the st andard  
This pest should not be regulated on this pathway because the evidence available 
(summarised below) does not suggest this pest poses a significant biosecurity risk on 
the pathway.  
• The impact of this virus is considered negligible because there are a couple of 
reports about  pest symptoms (Nemeth 1986; Ogawa et al. 1995), but the reports 
have  very little information on  impacts . 
• This virus has taxonomic uncertainty , as Nemeth (1986) indicated that it is probably 
a strain of prune dwarf virus , which is non -regulated in New  Zealand.  
• There is no genome sequence for this pest  making identification and verification of 
tests difficult .  
Ministry for Primary Industries   Risk Management Proposal – Removing Biological Indexing from Plant Germplasm Standards  • 5 Commodity  Pest  Proposed risk management  and i mpac t 
Prunus  Peach enation 
virus  Remove from the standard  
This pest should not be regulated on this pathway because the evidence available  
(summarised below)  does not suggest this pest poses a significant biosecurity risk on 
the pathway.  
• Peach enation virus  is not a valid name for a virus species (ICTV 2023). Peach 
enation virus  is likely a strain of Prunus necrotic ringspot virus  (Rankovic 1970).  
• EFSA considers this virus to be an undescribed Nepovirus  based on later 
description by Kishi et al. (1973) ( Europe an Panel on Plant Health et al. 2019). 
However, Kishi et al. (1973) do not provide information other than morphological 
description, which supports the hypothesis that PEV is a strain or synonym of 
Prunus necrotic ringspot virus  (which is already tested for by ELISA or PCR)  in the 
genus Ilarvirus .  
Rubus  Black 
raspberry 
necrosis virus  Remove from the standard  
This pest should not be managed on the nursery stock standard  because t his pest is 
present in New Zealand (Veerakone et al. 2015) and has been dere gulated.  
Rubus  Bramble 
yellow mosaic 
virus  Remove from the standard  
This pest should not be regulated on this pathway because the evidence available 
(summarised below) does not suggest this pest poses a significant biosecurity risk on 
the pathway.  
The likelihood of entry for this virus is negligible because:  
• it has only been reported once from Rubus rigidus in South  Africa in the 1970s 
(Enge lbrecht 1976) , suggesting it has negligible relevance today , and ; 
• it is only known to infect Rubus rigidus , which is not eligible for import into New 
Zealand.  
Rubus  Raspberry 
yellow spot 
disease  Remove from the standard  
This pest should not be regulated on this pathway because the evidence available 
(summarised below) does not suggest this pest poses a significant biosecurity risk on 
the pathway.  
• No causal organism has been identified for this disease, and because a type isolate 
does not exist it is impossible to identify and characterise the organism.  
• There is no evidence of an association  of this disease, its impacts or association 
with the commodity other than mentions such as those in Martin et al. (2013) which 
do not provide any evidence or reference to original research or reports.  
Rubus  Rubus 
Chinese seed 
borne virus  Remove from the standard  
This pest should not be regulated on this pathway because the evidence available 
(summarised below) does not suggest this pest poses a significant biosecurity risk on 
the pathway.  
• The impact of th is virus is considered negligible  because t here is no information on 
impact for this virus.  
• The likelihood of entry into New Zealand is considered negligible because t his virus 
has only been isolated once from a single, symptomless plant of an unknown 
Rubus species in quarantine in the UK (Barbara et al. 1985). The plant died before 
it could be propagated, and the virus was not detected in any other material . 
• No genome sequence is available.  
Rubus  Thimbleberry 
ringspot virus  Remove from the standard  
This pes t should not be regulated on this pathway because the evidence available 
(summarised below) does not suggest this pest poses a significant biosecurity risk on 
the pathway.  
• The impact of th is virus is considered negligible  because t here is no information on  
impact for this virus.  
• The likelihood of entry into New Zealand is considered negligible because t his virus 
has only been observed in Rubus parviflorus at a single site in Canada in 1958  
(Martin et al. 2013) .  6 • Risk Management Proposal – Removing Biological Indexing from Plant Germplasm Standards   Ministry for Primary Industries  Commodity  Pest  Proposed risk management  and i mpac t 
Rubus  Wineberry 
latent virus  Remove from the standard  
This pest should not be regulated on this pathway because the evidence available 
(summarised below) does not suggest this pest poses a significant biosecurity risk on 
the pathway.  
• The impact of this pest is negligible because t he natural impacts are not known.  
• The likelihood of entry into New Zealand is negligible because t his virus has only 
been identified once in a single symptomless plant of Rubus  phoenicolasius  
growing in an experimental planting in Scotland in 1977 (DVP 19 85; Martin et al. 
2013).  
Vitis LN33 stem 
grooving  Remove from the standard  
This pest should not be regulated on this pathway because it is insufficiently defined.  
The evidence available (summarised below) does not suggest th is pest poses a 
significant biosecurity risk on the pathway.  
• The impacts of the disease are typically reported to be low or of lesser significance 
or uncertain (Lázár and Bisztray 2011).  
• The causative agent has not been isolated or identified.  
• The disease is  typically only reported as part of grapevine rugose wood or rugose 
wood complex (Moskovitz et al. 2008). Therefore , the disease is likely caused by  a 
species in the genus Vitivirus  (family Betaflexiviridae) (Moradi et al. 2017) , such as 
grapevine  rupestri s stem pitting -associated virus (GRSPaV) and grapevine virus A  
and grapevine virus B (GVA and GVB) (Fajardo et al. 2020), which are present in 
New Zealand (Veerakone et al. 2015) , and grapevi ne virus  D, which is already 
regulated on the pathway and managed  by a PCR test.    
Ministry for Primary Industries   Risk Management Proposal – Removing Biological Indexing from Plant Germplasm Standards  • 7 4 Rationale for removing biological indexing  
 We no longer need to rely on biological indexing as a diagnostic tool onshore in 
post-entry quarantine. Since MPI started using biological indexing, scientists have 
developed diagnostic tests (ELISA and PCR) that sufficiently detect the pests listed in 
this proposal.  
a) Previously, some pests were managed by biological indexing and “ELISA or PCR”. 
This was because the ELISA and PCR tests that MPI had did not provide sufficient 
coverage for some pe sts. However, MPI’s Plant Health and Environment 
Laboratory now has ELISA and PCR tests that provide sufficient coverage to 
manage the pests in this proposal without using biological indexing.  
5 Feasibility of the proposed change s to the standard  
 We expect t he proposed measures to be practical and feasible for importers because  we 
are only changing what happens onshore .  
a) When samples are taken for testing, this will only happen for ELISA and PCR. The 
sampling for indexing will no longer need to happen, and th e new ELISA and PCR 
test samples will happen at the same time as existing sampling.  
 The proposed measures will also be practical and feasible for MPI’s Plant Health and 
Environment Laboratory. This proposal can be implemented immediate ly because t he 
labora tory has capacity and capability to conduct all of the required ELISA and PCR 
tests2. 
 The change in cost is expected to be feasible . In general, the proposed changes will be 
cheaper because u nder the current requirements PCR testing can be bulked while  
biological indexing cannot. However, cost feasibility  now is not truly representative 
because diagnostic testing cost s will be part of an upcoming consultation from MPI 
about post -entry quarantine . 
 MPI-approved facilities that use biological indexing as p art of their risk management 
system currently will still be recognised as managing biosecurity risk  to our appropriate 
level of protection  (which has not changed as part of this amendment) . 
a) However, any agreements where indexing would happen onshore will b e replaced 
by ELISA or PCR if not already conducted offshore.  
                                                      
2 Five t ests are yet to be implemented. The  laboratory is currently working on PCR tests for th ree pests  of Olea and two pests of 
Solanum tuberosum . The PCR tests are expected to be ready to use before they are needed in post -entry quarantine.  8 • Risk Management Proposal – Removing Biological Indexing from Plant Germplasm Standards   Ministry for Primary Industries  6 References  
Barbara, D  J; Ashby, S  C; McNamara, D  G (1985) Host range, purification and some 
properties of rubus Chinese seed -borne virus. Annals of Applied Biology  107: 45 –55. 
CABI (2019) Strawb erry lethal decline phytoplasma (Publication no.  13307 ). CABI 
Compendium . https://doi.org/10.1079/cabicompendium.13307 . Accessed March 2023 . 
DVP (1985) Wineberry latent virus. DPV no. 304. DPVweb.net Descriptions of Plant Viruses . 
https://www.dpvweb.net/dpv/showdpv/?dpvno=304 . Accessed March 2023.  
EFSA (2014) Scientific Opinion on the pest categorisation of strawberry  latent C virus. EFSA 
Journal 12(7): 3771.  
Engelbrecht, D  J (1976) Some  properties of a yellow mosaic virus isolated from bramble. 
Acta Horticulturae  66: 79 -84. 
EPPO (2018) PM 7/133 (1) Generic detection of phytoplasmas. EPPO Bulletin  48(3): 414 –
424. 
European  Panel o n Plant Health  (2019) Pest categorisation of non -EU viruses and viroids of 
Prunus  L. EFSA Journal  17(9): e05735.  
Faggioli, F. and Barba, M. (1995). AN ELONGATED VIRUS ISOLATED FROM OLIVE 
(OLEA EUROPEA L.). Acta Hortic . 386, 593 -600 DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.1995.386.87  
https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1995.386.87  
Fajardo, T V M; Bertocchi, A A; Nickel, O (2020) Determination of the grapevine virome by 
high-throughput sequencing and grapevine viruses  detection in Serra Gaúcha, Brazil. Revista 
Ceres  67(2): 156 –163. 
ICTV (2023) International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. 
https://talk.ictvonline.org/taxonomy/ Accessed 13  March 2023 . 
Kishi, K; Abiko, K; Takanashi, K (1973) Studies on the virus disease s of stone fruit . Japanese 
Journal of Phytopathology  39(5): 373 –380. 
Lázár, J; Bisztray, G D (2011) Virus and virus -like diseases of grapevine in Hungary. 
International Journal of Horticultural Science  17(3): 25 –36. 
Martin, R  R; McFarlane, S ; Sabanadzovic,  S; Quito, D ; Poudel, B ; Tzanetakis, I  E (2013) 
Viruses and virus diseases of Rubus. Plant Disease  97: 168 –182. 
Moradi, R; Koolivand, D; Eini, O; Hajizadeh , M (2017) Phylogenetic analysis of two Iranian 
grapevine virus A isolates using coat protein gene sequence. Iranian Journal of Genetics and 
Plant Breeding  6(1): 48 –57. 
Moskovitz, Y; Goszczynski, D E; Bir, L; Fingstein, A; Czosnek, H; Mawassi, M (2008) 
Sequencing and assembly of a full -length infectious clone of grapevine virus B and its 
infectivity on herbaceous plants. Archives of Virology  153(2): 323 –328. 
Nemeth, M (1986) Virus, Mycoplasma  and Rickettsia Diseases  of Fruit Trees . Martinus 
Nijhoff; Dordrec ht, Netherlands.  
Ogawa, J M; Zehr, E I; Bird, G W; Ritchie, D F; Uriu, K; Uyemoto, J K (1995) Compendium 
of stone fruit diseases . American Phytopathological Society; St Paul, Minnesota.  
Rankovic , M (1970) Study and identification of the virus causing enations on peach leaves. 
Zaat. Bilja. 21(110 –111): 335 –356.  
Ministry for Primary Industries   Risk Management Proposal – Removing Biological Indexing from Plant Germplasm Standards  • 9 Veerakone, S; Tang, J; Ward, L; Liefting, L; Perez -Egusquiza, Z; Lebas, B; Delmiglio, C; 
Fletcher, J; Guy, P (2015) A review of the plant virus, viroid, liberibacter and phytoplasma 
records for New Zealand. Australasian Plant Pathology  44: 463 –514. 10 • Risk Management Proposal – Removing Biological Indexing from Plant Germplasm Standards   Ministry for Primary Industries  7 Appendix - propos ed changes to risk  management measures  
7.1 Proposed changes to the standard Actinidia Plants for Planting  
Commodity  Pest  Current requirement  Proposed requirement  
Actinidia  Pelargonium zonate spot 
virus  Herbaceous indexing and PCR  PCR  
7.2 Proposed changes to the standard Citrus Plants for Planting  
  
Commodity  Pest  Current requirement  Proposed requirement  
Citrus , 
Fortunella  Citrus bark cracking viroid 
(Citrus viroid IV ) Biological indexing and PCR  PCR  
Citrus , 
Fortunella  Citrus bent leaf viroid 
(Citrus viroid I ) Biological indexing and PCR  PCR  
Citrus , 
Fortunella  Citrus chlorotic dwarf -
associated virus  Herbaceous indexing or PCR  PCR  
Citrus , 
Fortunella  Citrus psorosis virus [strains 
not in New Zealand]  Herbaceous indexing or PCR  PCR  
Citrus , 
Fortunella  Citrus sudden death -
associated virus  Herbaceous indexing or PCR  PCR  
Citrus , 
Fortunella  Citrus viroid V  Biological indexing an d PCR  PCR  
Citrus , 
Fortunella  Citrus viroid VI  Biological indexing and PCR  PCR  
Citrus , 
Fortunella  Hop stunt viroid (Citrus 
viroid II ) Biological indexing and PCR  PCR  
Citrus , 
Fortunella  Satsuma dwarf virus  Herbaceous indexing or PCR  PCR  
7.3 Proposed changes to the standard Importation of Nursery Stock  
Commodity  Pest  Current requirement  Proposed requirement  
Fragaria  Fragaria chiloensis latent 
virus [strains not in New 
Zealand]  Herbaceous indexing  PCR  
Fragaria  Raspberry ringspot virus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Fragaria  Strawberry chlorotic fleck 
virus  Graft indexing  PCR  
Fragaria  Strawberry feather leaf 
disease  Graft indexing  Remove from the standard  
Fragaria  Strawberry latent C virus  Graft indexing  Remove from  the standard  
Fragaria  Strawberry latent ringspot 
virus [strains not in New 
Zealand]  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Fragaria  Strawberry lethal decline 
disease  Graft indexing  Basic measures only  
Fragaria  Strawberry mild yellow 
edge -associated virus  Graft indexing  PCR  
Fragaria  Strawberry pallidosis 
associated virus  Graft indexing  PCR  
Fragaria  Strawberry pseudo mild 
yellow edge virus  Graft indexing  PCR  
Fragaria  Strawberry vein banding 
virus  Graft indexing and PCR  PCR  
Fragaria  Tobacco necrosis virus 
[strains not in New 
Zealand]  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Fragaria  Tobacco streak virus 
[strains not in New 
Zealand]  Herbaceous indexing  PCR   
Ministry for Primary Industries   Risk Management Proposal – Removing Biological Indexing from Plant Germplasm Standards  • 11 Commodity  Pest  Current requirement  Proposed requirement  
Fragaria  Tomato bushy stunt virus  Herbaceous indexing  PCR  
Fragaria  Tomato ringspot virus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Malus  Cherry rasp leaf virus  Herbaceous indexing and PCR  PCR  
Malus  Tomato bushy stunt virus  Herbaceous indexing  PCR  
Malus  Tomato ringspot virus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Olea  Cherry leaf roll virus 
[strains not in New 
Zealand]  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Olea  Olive latent 1 virus  Herbaceous indexing  PCR  
Olea  Olive latent 2 virus  Herbaceous indexing  PCR  
Olea  Olive latent ringspot virus  Herbaceous indexing  PCR  
Olea  Olive leaf yellowing -
associated virus  Woody indexing  PCR  
Olea  Olive vein yellow virus  Herbaceous indexing  Remove from the standard  
Olea  Phytoplasmas  Woody indexing and PCR  PCR  
Olea  Strawberry latent ringspot 
virus [strains  not in New 
Zealand]  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Rubus  Black raspberry necrosis 
virus [strains not in New 
Zealand]  Country freedom or graft indexing and PCR  Remove from the standard  
Rubus  Blackberry calico virus  Country freedom or herbaceous indexing  Country freedom or PCR  
Rubus  Blackberry chlorotic 
ringspot virus  Country freedom or herbaceous indexing 
and PCR  Country freedom or PCR  
Rubus  Bramble yellow mosaic 
virus  Country freedom or herbaceous indexing  Remove from the standard  
Rubus  Cherry rasp leaf virus  Country freedom or herbaceous indexing 
and ELISA or PCR  Country freedom or ELISA 
or PCR  
Rubus  Raspberry leaf curl virus  Country freedom or graft indexing  Country freedom or PCR  
Rubus  Raspberry ringspot virus  Country freedom o r herbaceous indexing 
and ELISA or PCR  Country freedom or ELISA 
or PCR  
Rubus  Raspberry yellow spot 
disease  Country freedom or graft indexing  Remove from the standard  
Rubus  Rubus Chinese seed borne 
virus  Country freedom or Herbaceous indexing  Remove from the standard  
Rubus  Rubus chlorotic mottle 
virus  Country freedom or herbaceous indexing  Country freedom or PCR  
Rubus  Rubus yellow net virus  Country freedom or graft indexing and PCR  Country freedom or PCR  
Rubus  Thimbleberry ringspot virus  Country freedom  or graft indexing  Remove from the standard  
Rubus  Tobacco necrosis virus 
[strains not in New 
Zealand]  Country freedom or herbaceous indexing  Country freedom or PCR  
Rubus  Tomato ringspot virus  Country freedom or herbaceous indexing 
and ELISA or PCR  Countr y freedom or ELISA 
or PCR  
Rubus  Wineberry latent virus  Country freedom or herbaceous indexing  Remove from the standard  
Solanum 
tuberosum  Andean potato latent 
tymo virus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Solanum 
tuberosum  Andean potato mottle 
como virus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Solanum 
tuberosum  Arracacha A nepovirus  Herbaceous indexing  Remove from the standard  
Solanum 
tuberosum  Arracacha B nepo virus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Solanum 
tuberosum  Asparagus 3 potexvirus  Herbaceous indexing  Remove from the standard  
Solanum 
tuberosum  Cassava green mottle 
nepo virus  Herbaceous indexing  Remove from the standard  
Solanum 
tuberosum  Cherry leaf roll nepovirus  Herbaceous indexing  Remove from the standard  12 • Risk Management Proposal – Removing Biological Indexing from Plant Germplasm Standards   Ministry for Primary Industries  Commodity  Pest  Current requirement  Proposed requirement  
Solanum 
tuberosum  Eggplant mosaic tymovirus  Herbaceous indexing  Remove from the standard  
Solanum 
tuberosum  Eggplant mottled dwarf 
nucleorhabdo virus  Herbaceous indexing  PCR  
Solanum 
tuberosum  Melilotus mosaic potyvirus  Herbaceous indexing  Remove from the standard  
Solanum 
tuberosum  Papaya mosaic potex virus  Herbaceous indexing and PCR  PCR  
Solanum 
tuberosum  Pelargonium line pattern 
carmovirus  Herbaceous indexing  Remove from the standard  
Solanum 
tuberosum  Pepino mosaic virus  Herbaceous indexing and PCR  PCR  
Solanum 
tuberosum  Pepper veinal mottle 
potyvirus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  Remove from the standard  
Solanum 
tuberosum  Potato black ringspot 
nepo virus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Solanum 
tuberosum  Potato mop -top furovirus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Solanum 
tuberosum  Potato T  trichovirus   Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Solanum 
tuberosum  Potato virus U nepovirus  Herbaceous indexing  PCR  
Solanum 
tuberosum  Potato virus Y  potyvirus  
[strains not in New 
Zealand]  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Solanum 
tuberosum  Potato yellow dwarf 
nucleorhabdo virus  Herbaceous indexing  PCR  
Solanum 
tuberosum  Potato yellow mosaic 
begomo virus  Herbaceous indexing  PCR  
Solanum 
tuberosum  Sowbane mosaic 
sobemo virus  Herbaceous indexing  PCR  
Solanum 
tuberosum  Tobacco etch potyvirus  Herbaceous indexing  Remove from the standard  
Solanum 
tuberosum  Tobacco necrosis 
necro virus [strains not in 
New Zealand]  Herbaceous indexing  PCR  
Solanum 
tuberosum  Tobacco rattle tobra virus 
[strains not in New 
Zealand]  Herbaceous indexing and PCR  PCR  
Solanum 
tuberosum  Tobacco streak ilarvirus 
[strains not in New 
Zealand]  Herbaceous indexing  PCR  
Solanum 
tuberosum  Tobacco stunt varico virus  Herbaceous indexing  Remove from the standard  
Solanum 
tuberosum  Tomato busy stunt 
tombusvirus  Herbaceous indexing  Remove from the standard  
Solanum 
tuberosum  Tomato chlorotic dwarf 
viroid  Herbaceous indexing  Remove from the standard  
Solanum 
tuberosum  Tomato leaf curl 
begomo virus – New Delhi  Herbaceous indexing  PCR  
Solanum 
tuberosum  Tomato top necrosis 
nepovirus  Herbaceous indexing  Remove from the standard  
Solanum 
tuberosum  Tomato yellow mosaic 
begomo virus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Solanum 
tuberosum  Wild potato mosaic 
potyvirus  Herbaceous indexing  PCR  
Vaccinium  Blueberry leaf mottle virus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Vaccinium  Blueberry scorch virus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Vaccinium  Blueberry shock virus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Vaccinium  Peach rosette mosaic virus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR   
Ministry for Primary Industries   Risk Management Proposal – Removing Biological Indexing from Plant Germplasm Standards  • 13 Commodity  Pest  Current requirement  Proposed requirement  
Vaccinium  Tobacco streak virus 
[strains not in New 
Zealand]  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Vaccinium  Tomato ringspot virus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Vaccinium 
macrocarpon  Blueberry scorch virus  Herbaceous indexing  and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Vaccinium 
macrocarpon  Tobacco streak virus 
[strains not in New 
Zealand]  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Vitis Cherry leaf roll virus 
[strains not in New 
Zealand]  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Vitis Grapevine Bulgarian latent 
virus Herbaceous indexing  PCR  
Vitis Grapevine chrome mosaic 
virus  Herbaceous indexing  PCR  
Vitis Grapevine deformation 
virus  Herbaceous indexing  PCR  
Vitis Grapevine fanleaf virus 
[strains not in New 
Zealand]  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Vitis  LN33 stem grooving  Woody indexing or green indexing  Remove from the standard  
Vitis Peach rosette mosaic virus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Vitis Raspberry ringspot virus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Vitis Sowbane mosaic virus  Herbaceous indexing  PCR  
Vitis Strawberry latent ringspot 
virus [strains not in New 
Zealand]  Herbaceous indexing and PCR  PCR  
Vitis Tomato ringspot virus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
7.4 Proposed changes to the standard Prunus Plants for Planting  
Commodity  Pest  Current requirement  Proposed requirement  
Prunus  American plum line pattern 
virus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Prunus  Apple stem grooving virus  
[Prunus -infecting strain]  Herbaceous indexing  PCR  
Prunus  Apricot latent virus  Herbaceous indexing  PCR  
Prunus  Carnation Italian ringspot 
virus  Herbaceous indexing  PCR  
Prunus  Cherry Hungarian rasp leaf 
virus  Herbaceous indexing  Remove from the standard  
Prunus  Cherry leaf roll virus  [strains 
not in New Zealand]  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Prunus  Cherry mottle leaf virus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Prunus  Cherry rasp leaf virus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Prunus  Cherry twisted leaf 
associated virus  Herbaceous indexing  PCR  
Prunus  Myrobalan latent ringspot 
virus  Herbaceous indexing  ELISA or PCR  
Prunus  Peach enation virus  Herbaceous indexing  Remove from the standard  
Prunus  Peach mosaic virus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Prunus  Peach rosette mosaic virus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Prunus  Plum pox virus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Prunus  Raspberry ringspot virus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Prunus  Sowbane mosaic virus  Herbaceous indexing  PCR  
Prunus  Tomato bushy stunt virus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Prunus  Tomato ringspot virus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  14 • Risk Management Proposal – Removing Biological Indexing from Plant Germplasm Standards   Ministry for Primary Industries  7.5 Proposed changes to the standard Seeds for Sowing  
Commodity  Pest  Current requirement  Proposed requirement  
Actinidia  Apple stem grooving virus 
[Actinidia infecting strain]  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Fragaria  Fragaria chiloensis latent 
virus  Herbaceous indexing  PCR  
Fragaria  Raspberry ringspot virus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Fragaria  Strawberry latent ringspot 
virus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Fragaria  Tobacco streak virus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Fragaria  Tomato ringspot virus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Malus  Apple scar skin viroid  Woody indexing and PCR  PCR  
Malus  Tomato bushy stunt virus  Herbaceous indexing and PCR  PCR  
Prunus  Cherry leaf roll virus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Prunus  Cherry rasp leaf virus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Prunus  Plum pox virus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Prunus  Prunus necrotic ringspot 
virus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Prunus  Tomato bushy stunt virus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Pyrus  Tomato bushy stunt virus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Ribes  Raspberry ringspot virus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Ribes  Tobacco rattle virus  [strains 
not in New Zealand]  Herbaceous indexing  PCR  
Rubus  Raspberry ringspot virus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Rubus  Tomato ringspot virus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Vaccinium  Blueberry leaf mottle virus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Vaccinium  Blueberry shock virus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Vaccinium  Peach rosette mosaic v irus Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Vaccinium  Tomato ringspot virus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Vitis Grapevine Bulgarian latent 
virus  Herbaceous indexing  PCR  
Vitis Grapevine chrome mosaic 
virus  Herbaceous indexing  PCR  
Vitis Grapevine fanleaf virus 
[strains not in New Zealand]  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Vitis Peach rosette mosaic virus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR  
Vitis Tomato ringspot virus  Herbaceous indexing and ELISA or PCR  ELISA or PCR