The South Australian tomato grower responsible for bringing a damaging plant virus into Victoria says a lack of communication is to blame for the infectious transport.
Last week the Victorian government confirmed the brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV), which can cut tomato plant growth by 70 per cent, had been found in Victoria for the first time as a result of a plant movement from SA.
Primary Industries and Regions SA (PIRSA) chief plant health manager Nick Secomb told SA Country Hour the virus spread after an “unauthorised movement of material” to Victoria.
Tomato brown rugose virus can cause up to 70 per cent in crop losses. (Supplied: Diana Godinez)
Victorian authorities have assured the industry the virus has been contained to one Goulburn Valley glasshouse.
The pilot program which allowed transport between the states has since been suspended and uncertainty remains about the viability of transporting seedlings across the border.
Peter Petsios, the SA farmer who brought the infected plants across the border, said he only made the move because the SA government failed to respond to his calls prior to his scheduled departure.
Claims SA authority slow to respond
Mr Petsios’s family-run tomato nursery SA Tomato was one of three SA businesses that tested positive for ToBRFV in August last year.
The company was forced to destroy all its plants and stop trading as part of quarantine measures.
Some states including Queensland and Western Australia closed its borders to all tomatoes from SA, causing consumer price changes.
Mr Petsios said his company, which “propagates seedlings for most of Australia”, was given approval in November to grow and deliver an order to Victorian business Katunga Fresh, a company which grows seedlings into supermarket produce.
This trade was done under a “pilot protocol trial to support trade”, according to Victorian chief health plant officer Rosa Crnov, and was a nationally approved process with conditions including extensive testing by PIRSA.
“They gave us this national protocol, and the protocol was we get those plants out on the 16th of December … and they took four rounds of testing,” Mr Petsios said.
The seedlings were due to leave for Victoria on December 16 and PIRSA has confirmed it was aware of such plans.
PIRSA chief plant health manager Nick Secomb says the tomato movement was unauthorised. (ABC News)
A PIRSA spokesperson confirmed the testing, but when a truck arrived to transport the seedlings for the 10-hour drive to northern Victoria, Mr Petsios said he called SA authorities to get the final plant health certificate.
“I rang [the PIRSA officer] about 11 o’clock, and I said, ‘The truck’s loaded, can you please give me the paperwork?’ and he never rang us back and he never ever sent the paperwork,” Mr Petsios said.
“They put me in a compromised position because I had to follow the protocol … it was 38 degrees and we couldn’t wait because they [the plants] would have been dead.”
A PIRSA spokesperson said they communicated with SA Tomato, but did not address Mr Petsios’s claims his call was not returned prior to transport.
“It was not possible for any shipping to occur on the 16th of December and before written authority was provided by a plant health inspector,” the PIRSA spokesperson said.
“The test results were not able to clear this shipment for movement when the business ultimately decided to move produce on 16th of December. It is not reasonable to suggest that PIRSA failed to return test results on the day that SA Tomato decided to move plants.”
Victoria’s chief plant officer Dr Crnov’s statement on January 17 confirmed that after being notified of the seedlings’ transport arrangement, the department implemented movement controls on the glasshouses at Katunga Fresh and conducted surveillance which identified an infected plant.
Authorities say processes are clear
On December 16, Mr Petsios informed the plant nursery industry peak body, Greenlife Industry Australia (GIA), the seedlings had been moved without a plant health certificate and they were heading to Victoria.
Peter Petsios’s greenhouse is in Adelaide’s northern suburbs. (Supplied: Peter Petsios)
GIA biosecurity director John McDonald confirmed this and said he contacted Agriculture Victoria the same day so it was “aware of the movement and could be ready to assess and implement requirements on arrival”.
An Agriculture Victoria (AgVic) spokesperson said they knew of the planned shipment, but “no dates were confirmed and any such movements would have required appropriate permits … once testing confirmed the plants were disease free”.
The spokesperson denied they were told of the seedling movement “prior to arrival in Victoria”.
AgVic did not respond to questions prior to the ABC’s publication deadline about when they found out the plants were headed to Victoria and why the truck was not inspected or stopped at the border.
Mr McDonald said he did not think there was any “malicious intent” by Mr Petsios.
“It’s a brand new protocol, and nobody helped him understand the process,” he said.
PIRSA said SA Tomato was told “on numerous occasions of the national testing requirements if they wanted to ship product to Victoria” and that the company needed written authority from the department “before any product could leave the property”.
The virus was confirmed at Katunga Fresh on January 17, but the Victorian government said the outbreak was “contained” given it was in an enclosed greenhouse.
No impact on supermarket tomatoes yet
SA’s chief plant health manager Nick Secomb said risk assessments continued to ensure the virus had not spread further.
Agriculture Victoria has a number of biosecurity border checkpoints. (ABC Riverland: Meg Vonic-Joyce)
“We know how it got there and we know where it came from, so it isn’t affecting the greater trade arrangements between Victoria and South Australia at the moment,” he said.
Mr Secomb said interstate arrangements for wholesale and retail trade of tomatoes and other vegetables, which were in some cases banned when the virus was first discovered last year, would be discussed with the other states.
More than 12,000 tests have been done in SA and so far the tomato virus has only been found on the original three properties.
Katunga Fresh declined to comment.
Victorian Farmers Federation president, Brett Hosking, said he was waiting to be briefed by the Victorian government.
