New Zealand tomato growers are welcoming the news that they can export fresh tomatoes to Australia again.
The export route had been closed since April 2021, after the pepino mosaic virus (PepMV) was detected in a commercial greenhouse.
TomatoesNZ General Manager Dinah Cohen said: “TomatoesNZ has worked with the Ministry for Primary Industries for nearly two years to re-open the Australia market.”
According to Cohen, the breakthrough was in the development of a new “code of practice” which gave Australia’s Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries the “assurance it needs to enable fresh tomatoes to be exported from New Zealand once again”.
“We thank the Ministry of Primary Industries for working with the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries on our behalf to manage the re-opening,” Cohen said.
In the last full year of exports in 2020, more than 600,000kg of fresh tomatoes were exported to Australia, according to TomatoesNZ.
At the time this was second only to the amount exported to Hong Kong, around 1.4 million kilograms. However, exports to Hong Kong have reduced significantly, so there’s potential for Australia to become our biggest export destination for tomatoes.
Ministry of Primary Industries plant exports manager Shane Olsen said, “prior to 2021, fresh tomato exports to Australia were valued at approximately $2 million per annum”.
Exports to Australia have been able to recommence from June 21, in time for the 2024/25 export season between November and March.
— By Ben McQueen
