. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/AUS/225 
25 June 2008  
 (08-3029) 
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 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 ( Lycopersicon esculentum  Mill.) seed 
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable :  All 
countries  
5. Title, language and number of pages of the notified document:  Nil 
6. Description of content:  Introduction of emergency phytosan itary measures for imports of 
tomato seed into Australia, due to the id entified quarantine risk of introducing potato 
spindle tuber viroid  (PSTVd) in imported tomato seed 
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:  A pest risk analysis 
(PRA) for PSTVd being undertaken by Biosecu rity Australia has identified scientific 
evidence that tomato ( Lycopericon esculentum ) seed can act as a pathway for the 
introduction of PSTVd.  This research conf irmed that PSTVd is not only an external 
seedborne contaminant but also present within th e seed embryo.  Imports into Australia of 
tomato seed for sowing will be subject to new import conditions until the PRA has been 
finalised and consultation with stakeholders has taken place. 
The PRA is being undertaken due to concerns  over the possible entry of the viroid in 
tomato seed following incursions of the viro id in greenhouse tomato crops in Australia. 
Industries at risk from ongoing imports under the current conditions are the greenhouse 
tomato and potato industries.  In addition to direct crop losses, interstate and international 
markets for these commodities are also at ri sk.  While importation of potato clonal 
germplasm is by means of seed-tubers or ti ssue cultures, which undergo substantial post-
entry quarantine disease screening, commercial se ed lots of tomato currently can be 
imported from any country without any risk m itigation measures, since the last quarantine 
restrictions were removed in 1992. G/SPS/N/AUS/225 
Page 2  
 
   Phytosanitary certification require ments for tomato seed for sowing: 
Each consignment must be accompanied by a Phytosanitary certificate endorsed with one 
of the following additional declarations: 
"The tomato seed in lot(s) … … … (numbers)  in the consignment was grown in … … … 
(Country) in an area that is free of potato spindle tuber viroid, based on an official survey 
covering the complete range of potato spindle tuber viroid hosts." 
or 
"The tomato seed in lot(s) … … … (numbers)  in the consignment was derived from seed 
and pollen parent plants grown by … … … (producer) in … … … (country) that were tested during the growing period and found free of potato spindle tuber viroid." 
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:   Nil 
11. Date of entry into force/period of application (as applicable):  Immediate 
12. Agency or authority designated to handl e comments: [ X ] National notification 
authority, [   ] National enquiry point, or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body:  
Contact: The Australian SPS Notification Point  
 GPO Box 858  Canberra ACT 2601  Australia  Fax:  +(61 2) 6272 3678 
E-mail:  sps.contact@daff.gov.au 
13. Texts available from: [   ] National notification authority, [   ] National enquiry point, 
or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body:  Nil