Keeping exotic banana pests and pathogens out of Australia is crucial for protecting farms and the wider industry. That’s why every imported banana plant goes through strict PEQ screening, including tissue culture, greenhouse checks and diagnostic testing (Figure 1).

From April 2026, Agriculture Victoria’s AgriBio centre will become the sole provider of tissue‑culturing services for new banana plant imports entering the PEQ process. This is the next step in shifting banana PEQ services from the Queensland Department of Primary Industries (QLD DPI) to new, long‑term providers.

This is Phase 2 of a three‑stage transition program, which is underpinned by comprehensive training and skills transfer.

• Phase 1 wrapped up in December 2023, when greenhouse services moved from QLD DPI to the federal Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) in Mickleham.
• Phase 3 is the transfer of diagnostics from QLD DPI to DAFF Mickleham.  Technical discussions and knowledge sharing have been underway since the start of the transition and will progress further in 2027.  In the meantime, QLD DPI will continue to provide diagnostics services for banana viruses and phytoplasma species.
• The transition began in 2022, and has involved QLD DPI, DAFF, Agriculture Victoria, Hort Innovation and the Australian Banana Growers’ Council working together to secure reliable, future‑proof PEQ services. Their goal is simple: keep banana plant imports moving while maintaining the strong biosecurity safeguards Australian banana growers rely on.
• DAFF is separately reviewing the import conditions for banana nursery stock to ensure they are up to date and responsive to any new or emerging risks. They expect to release the draft recommendations of the review in late 2026 for stakeholder consultation.

If you’re interested in importing banana plants, you can get more information by emailing [email protected] (DAFF) or checking BICON.