Banana freckle in the Northern Territory is now entering a ‘transition to management’ phase which will be supported by official control to help prevent its further spread.

This decision has been made by a national committee of affected parties, including government representatives from the Commonwealth, relevant states and territories, Greenlife Industry Australia, and the banana industry.

The decision was made based on scientific information that demonstrates eradication is no longer technically feasible.

Key points:

• The disease will remain under official control in the Northern Territory. This means the rest of Australia is still considered absent of freckle.
• There are strict measures in place protecting other states and territories. Banana producing states already have strict movement controls in place for banana freckle.
• Banana freckle is currently restricted to a small area of the Northern Territory.

Why was it decided that eradication was no longer feasible?

The technical, biological and epidemiological factors include but are not limited to:

• Evidence pointing to the fact that the current outbreak is most likely a carry-over from the previous outbreak, though there may be other factors.
• The pathogen is challenging to detect and delimit due its cryptic nature and long disease incubation and latency period.

This is compounded by gaps in scientific knowledge about the disease life cycle and pathways of spread.

What does official control mean?

• On occasions, an exotic plant pest or disease may enter Australia that cannot be eradicated. If this happens, the pest or disease is managed by industry and the government of the state or territory in which it occurs.
• When ‘official control’ is applied, the state or territory government puts in place measures to contain and control the pest or disease. These mandatory activities include:
  • containment or suppression activities (mostly involves destruction, disposal and decontamination)
  • surveillance in the area where the pest or disease could establish
  • movement restrictions so the pest or disease does not spread to an area that is not affected.

Official control can be applied at a regional level. In this case, it would apply at the Territory borders so that the rest of Australia will be considered to be absent of freckle.

The banana industry has provided significant financial support to the eradication response through levies, contributing just under 50 per cent of the response funding.