Australian table grape growers and exporters remain hopeful of brokering an agreement with Chinese quarantine officials, which would allow exports to resume in time for the upcoming season.
Market access for the Australian industry was suspended earlier this year, with China citing a 30 per cent rejection rate over the course of last season as the key factor.
Over 40 per cent of last season’s rejections were attributed to the presence of pollen beetles, microscopic bugs the Australian industry has argued are beneficial to production, as they rid fruit of other pests while posing no phytosanitary risks themselves.
At the time Asiafruit went to press the suspension was still in place but David Minnis, chairman of the Australian Horticultural Exporters Association, says a remedial solution is close to being reached.
“The proposal we have put forward is for an industry approved office to look at the fruit before it is handed over to the Chinese inspectors for the official inspection,” Minnis says.
“This would eliminate any obvious quarantine breaches before the official inspection, lowering the rejection rate. From the reports we have received, China approves this as a solution but they haven’t yet lifted the suspension, which is a slight concern for exporters, who at this stage are not officially sure if they will be able to get their fruit in directly this season.”
Minnis says growers in the Sunraysia region – the hub for Australian table grape production - are optimistic an agreement can be reached by mid-January, to tie in with the commencement of their harvest.
It would mean significant volumes would not enter the Chinese market until February, with the Chinese inspection officers stationed in Australia likely to return home for Chinese New Year.
“If everything was signed off in mid-January, the inspectors would be here for one or two weeks max before the returned to China, then it would likely be another week before they came back,” Minnis explains.
