Australia last week suspended imports of cherries, table grapes and strawberries from the US, following the detection there of spotted-wing drosophila (SWD), a rapidly developing fruit fly with the potential to devastate crops.
The Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) began informing importers of the decision to remove their import permits last Tuesday, although the body has since overturned the decision on strawberries.
The move caused high levels of anxiety amongst importers, who wondered if and when their permits would be reissued.
'AQIS needed two parts to their sentence - they just told importers ‘we're taking your permits',' Mark Baker, marketing services manager with Produce Marketing Australia, told Fruitnet.com.
'What they needed to add was ‘but we'll give them back once we've got processes in place'.
'It caused a huge amount of anxiety,' he said.
Garth Lockyer, from importer Valley Fresh, shared Mr Baker's sentiments.
'AQIS rang me last Tuesday and said they were withdrawing our permits for importing cherries because of this insect,' said Mr Lockyer.
'Obviously now we'll apply for a new import permit, which we're going to do today because we're looking to import strawberries.
'I'm interested to see what the new conditions are. They may be so onerous that we can't import them anyway,' he said.
AQIS is now working with the US Department of Agriculture to determine the effectiveness of methyl bromide treatments in eliminating the SWD, which is a relatively new pest, and it is hoped this will be completed before the start of the season.
'Methyl bromide works on every other type of fruit fly out there, but unfortunately with this pest being so new, there's not that research base to draw from,' said Mr Baker.
'They're going to try it with the first cherries from the south of the US, but it should be just a matter of dotting the i's and crossing the t's.
'We're very hopeful that this issue will be resolved before the start of the season.'
