The objective of CRC40035 was to review the process of moving emergency plant pest (EPP) samples during incursion, determine critical control points to manage risks and make recommendations for R&D. This review does not include samples collected by the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS). Management of these was being reviewed internally.

There are two main groups of plant related diagnostic samples that could contain EPPs:

• Biosecurity samples generated by surveillance, emergency response, eradication and containment programs. 
• Routine samples collected by farm consultants and primary producers to facilitate efficient farm management and access international markets.

Sample types vary widely and include herbaceous and woody plants, fruit, hay, seed, insects and soil. Each type of sample has specific packaging requirements for it to survive transport intact and arrive in good diagnostic condition.

Research outcomes

Australia Post currently only require packaging for plant diagnostic samples to comply with standard parcel post, although restricted samples need to conform to the respective State Quarantine regulations and be accompanied by Plant Health Certificates (Post Guide, Parcels within Australia, 2005). The requirements for parcel post is expressed in outcome terms e.g. must not leak etc, but do not have minimum technical specifications.

Better guidelines should be developed for the different types of plant, insect and soil samples to minimise the risk of substandard packaging being used. The recommended packaging must be readily available and reasonably priced if it is to be widely adopted.

New standards should be recorded in PlantPlan and updated as required. Incursion, eradication and containment programs are obliged to use the protocols in PlantPlan. PlantPlan is also readily accessible by diagnostic laboratories. User friendly brochures could be developed for primary producers and consultants, citing PlantPlan as the reference, and promoting biosecurity in the process.

Setting packaging standards too high will discourage people from sending samples. There are significant benefits to be achieved by encouraging people to send samples to approved laboratories; these include increasing the chance of early detection of EPPs and improved farm efficiency. By comparison, the risk they pose to spreading EPPs is very low, especially when compared to other means of dispersal.

Research implications

The CRCNPB is in a unique position to make a useful contribution to developing practical packaging standards and streamlining delivery of plant diagnostic samples. The following areas need to be addressed:

• The decision to include plant infectious agents in AS 4834 was made with limited industry consultation and needs to be reviewed. Using Category A for samples that may contain EPPs will delay setup times and increase the cost of the incursion, eradication and containment programs, and associated research programs. The current definitions also encompass routine samples and this is likely to have an adverse impact on demand.
  • If AS 4834 standards are endorsed, then suitable packaging for each sample type needs to be identified and made available in regional areas. 
  • If AS 4834 is considered excessive, then the standard will need to be revised, and new standards developed based on readily available components. These standards could be included in PlantPlan or developed as new categories in AS 4834.
• Contingency plans should be reviewed to ensure they include detailed packaging specifications and appropriate suppliers.
• To simplify the process of sending samples, endorsement should be sought from State Quarantine Authorities to remove the requirement for Plant Health Certificates or Written Approval notices to accompany samples sent in recommended packaging to approved laboratories. This will encourage agricultural consultants and producers to submit more diagnostic samples, and increase the chance of early detection of EPP incursions and farming efficiency.

Acknowledgments

• Australian and Australian/New Zealand Standards
• Australian Dangerous Goods Code (ADG Code)
• Department of Health and Ageing
• Australia Post Guides
• Department of Transport and Regional Services
• Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF)
• Biosecurity Australia; Plant Biosecurity
• Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS)
• Plant Health Australia
• NSW Department of Primary Industries
• Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries; Biosecurity
• Grow Help Australia
• Primary Industries and Resources South Australia
• Department of Primary Industries and Water; Biosecurity, Tasmania
• Department of Primary Industries, Victoria; Biosecurity Victoria
• Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia
• Western Australian Quarantine Inspection Service (WAQIS)

This project is developing a mix of digital technologies designed to provide the building blocks of future diagnostic information systems. The Plant Biosecurity Toolbox™ and the Biosecurity Bank are web-based tools which provide users with specific diagnostic information to assist them identify the plant pest or disease. The Plant Biosecurity Toolbox™ can be accessed through PaDIL* and hopefully in the future users will also be able to access the Biosecurity Bank through this portal.
 

In addition, a Remote Microscope Network allows species experts to view and identify specimens in real time via a microscope and internet connection. This tool facilitates access to experts both nationally and internationally to support fast and inexpensive diagnostics. Current nodes of the network include most states of Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and some south-east Asian countries.
 

What is the biosecurity problem?

The frenetic increase in the pace of people movement and international trade puts added pressures on our borders and a greater need to quickly identify potential harmful pests and diseases. Through retirement of skilled diagnosticians and a low-level of uptake to study these disciplines, we are seeing a decline in our human capital. It is essential that alternative strategies are developed to support quick and accurate diagnostics in an increasingly resource poor environment.

The main outputs of this project are to:

• develop a standard diagnostic information template in collaboration with staff involved in plant biosecurity diagnostics
• audit diagnostic information relating to harmful pest and diseases to populate the template and identify gaps in diagnostic information, and 
• provide a web-based portal to access diagnostic information.

Who will be the end-users of this research?

Users will range from inspectors in our ports and borders to field-based crop protection officers, to taxonomists and experts in labs. This may include farmers, consultants, policy makers, regulators or just simply members of the public. Users may be national or international. These tools engage a wide audience and provide information at a number levels – from taxonomy and general biology to risk analysis and detailed molecular tests.

What this means for future diagnostics

Viewed independently, the tools present the user with a simple pathway to solve a diagnostic problem and in so doing, perform the useful biosecurity function of pest identification. Wider access and use of the tools will be enhanced through the application of better digital technologies, such as personal digital assistants, wireless networks, portable remote microscopes, dedicated web portals and organised networks of facilities with agreed standards and processes.

Beyond this primary function, people interact with the tools to create an instantaneous log of pest specimens, their prevalence and locations which can then be picked up by analytical databases such as the Atlas of Living Australia that will aggregate and draw on these tools and data to provide a deeper understanding of trends. In this sense, these tools provide the materials for future heuristic models of analysis.

*PaDIL is a partnership between the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia, Plant Health Australia, Museum Victoria, Queensland University of Technology and the Cooperative Research Centre for National Plant Biosecurity.

This project will develop new policies and strategies to improve the management of emergency plant pest incursions. It will increase community and indigenous participation to identify, prevent and manage emergency plant pest incursions, particularly in Australia's northern border regions.

A pilot study was conducted in 2007 which established:

1. A draft community participation model

The model incorporates sound practice in developing sustainable ways for communities in Eastern Indonesia and Australia to identify and manage the pests and diseases affecting the quality and quantity of crops and food supplies. This work has been internationally peer reviewed and is currently the subject of a joint partnership publication of 2 international journals.

2. Research training needs

A need to strengthen the research training capacity and accompanying training accreditation for the community management of biosecurity in both countries. A Research Award Framework was developed and subsequently endorsed by the Director General of Higher Education for Indonesia, and a pilot of the Award initiated at the Universitas Mahasaraswati, Denpasar.

What is the biosecurity problem?

Australia's proximity to South East Asia places pressure on our tropical north in terms of plant biosecurity. Indigenous communities have an essential role in managing emergency plant pest incursions, and their support is recognised under AQIS's Northern Australian Quarantine Strategy (NAQS). While NAQS undertake activities in collaboration with neighbouring countries' governments, there is an opportunity to work more proactively with Indigenous communities in developing risk mitigation strategies.

The main outputs of this project are to:

• implement proactive management of plant pests and diseases through the development of a community-based management system in Australia and Indonesia is best achieved through the development of systems to produce models of leadership training for those involved at central, regional and community levels to make new decentralisation policy work for the poor. It will do this through action research in Northern Australia and the Greater Papua, West Timor (Nusa Tengara Timur NTT) and other regions which in turn will lead to leadership capacity building and implementation of innovative breakthrough activities.
• develop, trial, evaluate and refinement of the 2007 research outcomes (the pilot project) in three regions of Eastern Indonesia and Australia: (a) The Greater Papua, (b) Nusa Tengara Timur (NTT) and (c) remote communities in Northern Australia.
• provide cross-cutting research across the whole of Northern Australia and Eastern Indonesia (Nusa Tengarra, NTT) into the facilitation of policy/regional/community connections, and the role of women in facilitating biosecurity outcomes.

Who will be the end-users of this research?

• End-users
• Government, NGO's and international agencies such as ACIAR and AusAid  
• Beneficiaries
• Australian government agencies such as DAFF (AQIS)
• Key stakeholders, and
• Local communities and their leadership in Eastern Indonesia and Northern Australia; Australian government involved in policy establishment (DAFF, DFAT).

This project will provide alternative eradication strategies for emergency plant pest incursions on perennial crops. It will also reduce economic costs and social impact from emergency plant pest eradication measures. The viticulture industry has been selected as an initial pilot with a focus on developing alternative pruning techniques to remove the emergency plant pest but allow enough residual plant material to ensure rapid grapevine regeneration.

What is the biosecurity problem?

The current strategy to eradicate an emergency plant pest is based partly on the removal of whole affected plants, followed by burning and burial. However, this practice incurs significant costs to industry and the community when perennial species are involved. Alternative strategies need to be developed that meet eradication goals while reducing the economic and social impact.

The main outputs of this project are to:

• conduct due diligence on current eradication strategies using responses to citrus canker, fireblight and banana freckle as case studies
• develop a research and development model system that features identification of endemic pathogens with similar biology and epidemiology to high priority target emergency plant pests and a system for the validation of eradication strategies in countries where the emergency plant pest is endemic
• develop novel alternative strategies that meet eradication goals while minimising negative economic and social impact.
• implement novel research strategies on key exotic diseases in partnership with leading international laboratories.

Who will be the end-users of this research?

Contact with industry through grower workshops and meetings throughout the project will provide important feedback on the practicality and economic advantage of proposed alternative eradication strategies. The development of strategies will be undertaken in consultation with relevant regulatory authorities. Plant Health Australia will be engaged to gain an understanding of the possible implications of the new drastic pruning strategy in the context of PLANTPLAN.

This project evaluated current surveillance systems for EPPs using Bayesian statistical methods and identifed other sources of data that could be used to complement existing surveillance programs. It  also evaluated specific surveillance methods and tests such as visual inspection by field and quality assurance staff and diagnostic tests used in the identification of plant pathogens.

What is the biosecurity problem?

Under the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS agreement) countries are no longer allowed to restrict imports of plant products for non-scientifically justifiable reasons and the need to provide valid data supporting the status of plant pathogens of concern is becoming increasingly important.

Current plant pathogen surveillance systems are often focused on targeted surveillance for a specific pathogen and methods are based on 'expert opinion' and historically used tests. These surveillance systems only report on the pest status in a particular time period, effectively a ‘snapshot' and are often expensive to implement due to the large number of samples required to provide sufficient confidence of obtaining an accurate representation of the pest status in a given region or country at that time.

The main outputs of this project were to:

• assess the application of statistical and modeling tools for their evaluation of plant health surveillance systems
• develop methods for identifying different risks in population subgroups based on risk-based analysis
• develop methods for risk-based surveillance design
• statistically evaluate methods and tests currently used in surveillance systems, and
• assess alternative sources of data available that may contribute towards demonstrating disease freedom and early detection of EPPs.

Who are the end-users of this research?

The tools and methodologies developed in this project are most applicable to government departments for use in designing future surveillance programs, assessing current surveillance programs and demonstrating disease freedom for use in the support of market access applications. The tools and methods developed are also applicable for assessing surveillance data supplied by trading partners as part of import applications.

This project assessed the statistical and modelling tools available to evaluate surveillance systems and developed a surveillance system evaluation methodology to measure the effectiveness of early warning, area freedom and response surveillance. The project determined the sensitivity of surveillance systems to detection sensitivity, risk area analysis and uncertain epidemiological characteristics of spread and reproduction and optimise surveillance systems by using epidemiological knowledge.

What is the biosecurity problem?

Despite the biosecurity resources invested in surveillance programs, there are no accepted tools for evaluating the quality of surveillance with respect to the spatial epidemiology of invading pests. Surveillance implicitly underpins claims of plant health status for geographic areas. Our ability to manage eradication and containment programs, plant movement risks and early detection has been hampered by difficulties in interpreting what our surveillance is telling us. Quantitative surveillance analysis techniques based on epidemiological risk can provide a framework for measuring the value of data produced by surveillance systems and provide a methodology for assessing surveillance options.

The main outputs of this project were to:

• develop a methodology for negotiating area freedom related trade based on surveillance and risk assessment
• develop surveillance optimisation strategies for EPP early warning surveillance, and
• develop a spatially integrated analytical approach to surveillance evaluation to optimise EPP control options

Who are the end-users of this research?

This project resulted in a new PhD graduate trained in statistical techniques to guide and interpret surveillance emergency pest surveillance programs. The graduate was immediately employable within the plant biosecurity industry, increasing Australia's capability to undertake EPP surveillance.

The Surveillance Simulation project produced a simulation environment which will be used to estimate rates of spread of a disease and its time-changing extent over the landscape. It will provide computer-based models to disease outbreak managers, to predict the spread of emergent plant diseases and pests and improve response by biosecurity teams.

Research outcomes:

• A surveillance prediction simulation platform for validating surveillance strategies,
• novel landscape-level modelling techniques for pest spread simulation, and
• validated simulation technology using historical emergency plant pest incursion data.

Research implications:

This pathway of robust, easily extensible general EPP simulators, accessed via a web-server architecture is a very viable option for future development, commercialisation and/or roll-out.

Acknowledgements:

The research team acknowledges the CRC for National Plant Biosecurity (CRCNPB) for supporting this project.

The research team also expresses sincere thanks to many other researchers at UWA, DAFWA and CSIRO who have assisted with knowledge of the behavior of many pest species and with advice and feedback about the usability of the system.

This project was a scoping study to determine the potential of using an unmanned aerial vehicle, fitted with a spore trap, to detect and monitor spores of plant pathogens. The aim was to develop a sampling system that would have the ability to spatially monitor fungal spores, and protocols to interpret their spatial distribution. This tool will greatly enhance the ability to detect new incursions of fungal pathogens and to enable more accurate delimiting of distribution. The technology will allow for earlier detection of harmful plant pest or disease incursions in difficult areas and provide efficient and effective airborne surveillance.

The project was led by Rodney Walker, with Felipe Gonzalez (Queensland University of Technology (QUT)/Australian Research Centre for Aerospace Automation (ARCAA)) as the Principal Investigator, Les Zeller (Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation (DEEDI)) as advisor and engineer and Pritesh Narayan (QUT/ARCAA) as research fellow.

Research outcomes:

• an advanced airborne biosensor with capabilities to geo-locate spores was developed and tested
• seven publications, and 
• four flight tests.

Research implications:

This tool will greatly enhance the ability to detect new incursions of fungal pathogens and to enable more accurate delimiting of distribution. The technology will allow for earlier detection of harmful plant pest or disease incursions in difficult areas and provide efficient and effective airborne surveillance.

Acknowledgements:

We would like to thank and acknowledge the support of DEEDI, ARCAA and the QUT throughout this research project.

We would also like to acknowledge the additional contributions of Richard Glassock (UAS Launch Controller), Scott Mcnamara (UAS Flight Controller) who assisted in the integration and UAS flight testing components, Francesco Tamagnone Cosmelli (Exchange Post Graduate Researcher – Italy) who assisted in the wind tunnel and UAS flight testing components.

A/Professor Zoran Ristovski also collaborated with the research project and provided access to aerosol equipment such as the particle sizer and atomiser and also provided valuable insight as an aerosols expert.