China Fresh Apple insights

The notice shows that the quarantine pests of concern for China include the Queensland fruit fly, the Mediterranean fruit fly, the apple codling moth, the apple light brown leaf roller, the apple woolly aphid, the brown rot fungus, and the Glomerella leaf spot fungus. Tasmania remains a non-quarantine area for the Mediterranean fruit fly and the Queensland fruit fly, and apple orchards exporting to China must establish a monitoring and trapping system, and maintain the state's current non-quarantine status. If the Mediterranean fruit fly or the Queensland fruit fly is found, Australia must notify China within 48 hours and immediately initiate the national emergency response plan for epidemics. Areas affected by the epidemic must suspend apple exports to China, or carry out pest control according to methods recognized and approved by China. The Australian mainland is an area where fruit flies occur, with the Mediterranean fruit fly occurring only in Western Australia and the Queensland fruit fly occurring only in the eastern regions of Australia. Orchards exporting to China must have fruit flies visually inspected or monitored by traps by Australian authorities or their authorized personnel from the flowering period until harvest. During processing and packaging, apples must be sorted, washed, classified, and graded to ensure they are free from insects, mites, rotten fruit, and branches, leaves, roots, and soil. Defective fruits must be removed during processing, and post-harvest fungicides must be used. Apples from fruit fly occurrence areas (i.e., the Australian mainland) exported to China must undergo cold treatment against fruit flies. Apples exported to China from Western Australia should undergo cold treatment against the Mediterranean fruit fly, with the criteria being: 1°C or below (fruit flesh temperature) for 16 days or more consecutively; or 2.1°C or below (fruit flesh temperature) for 21 days or more consecutively. Apples exported to China from areas of the Australian mainland other than Western Australia should undergo cold treatment against the Queensland fruit fly, with the criteria being: 3°C or below (fruit flesh temperature) for 18 days or more consecutively. Australian apples have long relied on domestic market sales and are highly concentrated in the Coles and Woolies supermarket systems, with very low bargaining power. After gaining access to the Chinese market, apple growers have a great opportunity to break free from the supermarket giants. In the 2023/24 season, the value of Australian apple production exceeded 680 million Australian dollars, with a production volume of nearly 300,000 tons, 90% of which came from mainland areas. Although some growers hope to start exporting immediately after the harvest in February next year, most growers still need to adjust their varieties and quality, and are expected to start export activities from May next year.

On August 5, the General Administration of Customs issued a notice on the phytosanitary requirements for the import of fresh food apples from Australia. Previously, due to concerns about fruit fly issues, since 2010, China has only allowed the import of apples grown in Tasmania, Australia. The notice indicates that the quarantine pests of concern to China include the Queensland fruit fly, the Mediterranean fruit fly, the apple codling moth, the apple pale brown leaf roller, the apple aphid, the brown rot fungus, and the Glomerella leaf spot fungus. Tasmania remains a non-epidemic area for the Mediterranean fruit fly and the Queensland fruit fly. Apple orchards exporting to China must establish a monitoring and trapping system and maintain the non-epidemic status of the state. If the Mediterranean fruit fly or the Queensland fruit fly is found, Australia must notify China within 48 hours and immediately initiate the national emergency action plan for epidemics. Areas affected by the epidemic must suspend apple exports to China or carry out pest control according to methods recognized and approved by China. The Australian mainland is an area where fruit flies occur, with the Mediterranean fruit fly occurring only in Western Australia and the Queensland fruit fly occurring only in the eastern regions of Australia. Orchards exporting to China must have fruit flies visually inspected or monitored by traps by Australian personnel or their authorized agents from the flowering period to the harvest period. During processing and packaging, apples must be sorted, washed, classified, and graded to ensure they are free from insects, mites, rotten fruits, and branches, leaves, roots, and soil. Defective fruits must be removed during processing, and post-harvest fungicides must be used. Apples from fruit fly-affected areas (i.e., the Australian mainland) must undergo cold treatment against fruit flies. Apples exported to China from Western Australia should undergo cold treatment against the Mediterranean fruit fly, with the criteria being: 1°C or below (fruit flesh temperature), continuously for 16 days or more; or 2.1°C or below (fruit flesh temperature), continuously for 21 days or more. Apples exported to China from areas of the Australian mainland other than Western Australia should undergo cold treatment against the Queensland fruit fly, with the criteria being: 3°C or below (fruit flesh temperature), continuously for 18 days or more. Australian apples have long relied on domestic market sales and are highly concentrated in the Coles and Woolies supermarket systems, with very low bargaining power. After gaining access to the Chinese market, apple growers have a great opportunity to break free from the supermarket giants. In the 2023/24 production season, the value of Australian apple production exceeded 6.8 billion Australian dollars, with a production volume of nearly 300,000 tons, 90% of which came from mainland areas. Although some growers hope to start exporting immediately after the harvest in February next year, most growers still need to adjust their varieties and quality and are expected to start export activities from May next year. Image source: NewsWire2025 International Fruit and Vegetable Report. All rights reserved. For reprint permission, contact the International Fruit and Vegetable Report and credit the source as the International Fruit and Vegetable Report.

During the mid-July annual meeting between the Chinese and Australian prime ministers, the two sides signed protocols for the export of Australian apples to China and Chinese fresh dates to Australia. On August 1, the General Administration of Customs issued a notice regarding the phytosanitary requirements for the export of Chinese fresh dates to Australia. The notice requires that Australian orchards, packaging plants, and quarantine treatment facilities (if applicable) should be registered with the Chinese side, and the Chinese side should provide the Australian side with a registration list before the export season begins. Quarantine pests subject to risk management measures include Cecidophyopsis ribis, Phenacoccus solenopsis, Bactrocera dorsalis, Bactrocera tryoni, Bactrocera zonata, Bactrocera cucurbitae, and Carposina sasakii, with the restricted pest being Frankliniella occidentalis. The Australian side recognizes and approves the areas north of 33 degrees north latitude in China as non-pest areas for Bactrocera tryoni, Bactrocera dorsalis, and Bactrocera cucurbitae. Fresh dates from areas where fruit fly outbreaks have occurred must suspend export to Australia, or undergo quarantine treatment approved by the Australian side. Fresh dates from fruit fly-affected areas or suspended areas should undergo pre-export/in-transit cold treatment. The in-transit cold treatment of fresh dates can begin before leaving the Chinese port and must be completed during or after arrival at the first port of call in Australia from China. The cold treatment conditions are: fruit pulp temperature of 1.11°C or below for 14 days or more; or fruit pulp temperature of 1.67°C or below for 16 days or more; or fruit pulp temperature of 2.22°C or below for 18 days or more. Areas in China's Xinjiang province outside of Turpan are recognized by the Australian side as non-pest areas for Bactrocera zonata, and fresh dates from areas where fruit fly outbreaks have occurred must suspend export to Australia. During the processing and packaging, fresh dates should be sorted, classified, and graded to ensure they are free from insects, mites, rotten fruit, branches, leaves, roots, and soil. Defective fruits should be removed during the processing, and post-harvest fungicides should be used. Image source: pixabay2025 International Fruit and Vegetable Report. All rights reserved. For reprint permission, contact the International Fruit and Vegetable Report and credit the source.