New Zealand, which has been plagued by fire blight bacteria for decades, has had two previous applications rejected by the quarantine authorities because of the risk its apples posed to Australia's industry. Quarantine authorities yesterday said fears that New Zealand would be able to export apples to Australia were premature. The final draft of the import risk analysis for New Zealand apples was still being processed and a decision could be several weeks away. Growers have vowed to fight any decision allowing New Zealand' s apples access to the Australian market and have been contributing to a national fighting fund. New Zealand is believed to have been putting enormous pressure on quarantine authorities and the Federal Government to allow its apples into Australia.
Fire blight has a brutal impact on fruit trees.
It disfigures fruit and, after a period of time, kills entire trees. There is no known chemical that can destroy fire blight bacteria. Fire blight was last in the news in 1997 when a New Zealand scientist illegally took plants back to New Zealand claiming to have found evidence of the bacteria. New Zealand tests on the plants, which were taken from Melbourne's Botanic Gardens, showed strong evidence of fire blight. But those results were later questioned after Australian testing.