New Zealand | Amendment to the testing requirements in the specific requirements for tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) in import health standard Seeds for Sowing
On October 22, 2021, the New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) issued a consultation document to solicit opinions on Amendment to the testing requirements for Pepino mosaic virus in the specific requirements for tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) in import health standard Seeds for Sowing(155.02.05). The specific import requirements for seeds include:
MPI proposes a change to the testing requirement for PepMV in the specific requirements for tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) in the Standard to require that seeds are “officially tested, on a representative sample of a minimum of 3,000 seeds officially drawn according to the ISTA or AOSA sampling methodology, using an NPPO-approved ELISA or NPPO-approved PCR testing method and found free from Pepino mosaic virus”. The change as it will appear on the Standard can be found in Appendix 1 of this risk management proposal.
MPI has included guidance in the specific requirements for Solanum lycopersicum in the Standard to state that:
(i) MPI does not accept bioassays to detect the presence of PepMV on seed samples.
(ii) Additional declarations on phytosanitary certificates to meet the offshore testing requirements for PepMV in the import health standard Seeds for Sowing should be based only on a negative result obtained in an NPPO-approved ELISA or NPPOapproved PCR and not on results from a bioassay.
