Australian quarantine officials have declared an outbreak of Queensland fruit fly in the Riverina district of New South Wales.
The detections were made in Hillston in the Riverina, but were outside the current Hillston suspension zone established following previous detections.
The Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) has declared a two-fly outbreak as of 24 September, and suspended exports from the entire Riverina district until further notice to New Zealand, Fiji, French Polynesia, Tonga, Kiribati, New Caledonia, Samoa, the Solomon Islands and Vanuata.
The Menindee district is also considered part of the Riverina for exports to New Zealand.
Products sourced from the districts prior to 9 September can be exported under area freedom certification to those countries, provided the security of the product is verified by AQIS, the inspection service said in a statement.
Products sourced after that date may only be exported to those countries with appropriate fruit fly treatment.
The outbreak comes at the end of the district’s winter citrus season.
