Wollemia nobilis (Wollemi Pine) - Biosecurity New Zealand

Management options are therefore limited to either ensuring Wollemia nobilis whole plants or
root-less cuttings are free of P. cinnamomi before packaging and transport to New Zealand,
or infested plants are detected and destroyed before any Wollemia nobilis nursery stock is
released into the New Zealand environment.
Pre-export Requirements
The principle measure available for obtaining P. cinnamomi freedom prior to export to
New Zealand is through nursery management in Australia. Referring to the existing
management practices provided in 3.6.1 and Appendix 2, the following nursery management
practices would be necessary to provide adequate assurance of P. cinnamomi freedom:
o Accreditation under the Nursery Industry Accreditation Scheme, Australia (NIASA) as
detailed in for root diseases in Chapter 7 section 7.3.2.2, with the following additional
requirement:
• To reduce the likelihood of exported plants being contaminated by P. cinnamomi, it is
recommended that all access to the site is via a series of footbaths containing an
antibiotic agent effective against soil-borne diseases such as Phytophthora species
(e.g. 128 g/l of benzalkonium chloride). Benzalkonium chloride, a quaternary
ammonium compound shown by Smith & Clements (2006) to be effective at
sterilising soil and surfaces of Phytophthora cinnamomi at the rate stipulated.
The level of protection provided by this pre-export measure would be affected by the
following attributes of P. cinnamomi:
o Infection within the nursery: to date there have been no recorded instances of P.
cinnamomi on Wollemia nobilis plants within nurseries in Australia managed under
these requirements.
o Delay in symptom expression: visually detectable symptoms may not become
apparent for an extended period after infection.
o Post inspection infection: plants may become infected with P. cinnamomi after the
inspections have been completed but before the plants arrive in New Zealand.
These attributes of P. cinnamomi would suggest that this measure alone would not provide a
sufficient level of confidence that consignments of Wollemia nobilis whole plants or root-less
cuttings from Australia would not transfer P. cinnamomi into New Zealand.
Post Entry Quarantine
The principle measure available for detecting and removing infested plants before the
consignment is released into New Zealand is through inspection while in post-entry
quarantine. Contamination of nursery plants by P. cinnamomi may not become apparent
when conditions for the expression, such as humidity, temperature, and water levels, are not
suitable or the infected plants are symptom-less hosts. The following post-entry quarantine
conditions shall apply to ensure as far as is possible that disease expression will become
Page 122 of 193 14 March 2008 Import Risk Analysis: Wollemia nobilis (Wollemi Pine) Araucariaceae Nursery Stock from Australia