. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/AUS/224 
10 June 2008  
 (08-2709) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION OF EMERGENCY MEASURES  
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:   AUSTRALIA
 
If applicable, name of local government involved:    
2. Agency responsible:   Biosecurity Australia (BA), Australian Government Department of 
Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry 
3. Products covered (provide tariff item number(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where 
applicable):  Tomato, capsicum, eggplant, pepino, potato and chilli for human 
consumption 
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable :  
New Zealand  
5. Title, language and number of pages of the notified document:  None  
6. Description of content:  Australia has adopted emergency measures to suspend imports of 
fresh produce and nursery stock of tomatoes, cap sicum, eggplant, pepino, potato and chilli 
from New Zealand to manage the risk of intr oduction to and spread in Australia of an 
undescribed species of the genus Candidatus  Liberibacter. 
7. Objective and rationale:  [   ] food safety, [   ] animal health, [ X ] plant protection, [  
 ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease, [   ] protect territory from other damage from pests    
8. Nature of the urgent problem(s) and reason for urgent action:  The Ministry of 
Agriculture and Forestry, Biosecurity Ne w Zealand (MAFBNZ) notified Biosecurity 
Australia on 3 June 2008, that it had detected a previously unknown Candidatus 
Liberibacter  species in three greenhouses in Auckland, New Zealand that produce tomatoes 
and capsicum.  The bacterial phytoplasma isolated from capsicum and tomato in New 
Zealand is in the same genus ( Candidatus Liberibacter) as the phytoplasmas that cause 
citrus greening the serious citrus disease "citrus greening" or  "Huanglongbing".  
Candidatus  Liberibacter phytoplasmas have not previously been isolated from tomatoes or 
capsicum.  Australia has suspended the importation of known and potentially likely host commodities (tomatoes, capsicum, potato, pe pino, eggplant and chilli) from New Zealand 
pending additional information.  G/SPS/N/AUS/224 
Page 2  
 
  9. International standard, guideline or recommendation:  
[   ] Codex Alimentarius Commission, [   ] World Organization for Animal Health 
(OIE), [ X ] International Plant Protection Convention, [   ] None  
If an international standard, guideline or recommendation exists, give the 
appropriate reference and briefly identify deviations:    
10. Relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:   None 
11. Date of entry into force/period of application (as applicable):  6 June 2008.  (There will 
be a review of the emergency measures as  more information about the biology and 
distribution of the bacterium is known.) 
12. Agency or authority designated to handl e comments: [ X ] National notification 
authority, [ X ] National enquiry point, or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body:  
13. Texts available from: [   ] National notification authority, [   ] National enquiry point, 
or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body: