Opinion | Proposed US apple imports put Australia’s biosecurity and food security at risk

By Jeremy Griffith, General Manager at Apple and Pear Australia Limited (APAL) 

As local growers are aware, the United States has been seeking biosecurity approval to export fresh apples to Australia.

This process has now been underway for nearly eight years. The Australian Government has conducted detailed assessments and indicated that US apples could potentially be imported, but only subject to strict biosecurity measures.

That caution is hardly surprising. The government’s assessment identified 24 exotic pests and diseases associated with the proposed trade that could potentially threaten local horticulture.

Image by Shutterstock

Against the backdrop of recent biosecurity incursions, including Varroa mite, brown marmorated stink bug, and polyphagous shot-hole borer, growers are understandably nervous.

Every biosecurity outbreak has the potential to threaten our food production capacity and the livelihoods of growers.

Australian apple growers could pay twice for biosecurity outbreaks

There is a particular unfairness in the way biosecurity outbreaks affect growers.

Not only can an outbreak directly threaten the commercial viability of your businesses, but growers can also be required to contribute financially to eradication or management programs, even though they had nothing to do with introducing the pest or disease in the first place.

Then, to add insult to injury, growers may face increased competition from imported product produced under very different cost structures, regulatory requirements and employment conditions. 

Where imported fruit can be produced and delivered at substantially lower prices, it has the potential to place further pressure on an industry already operating on very thin margins.

Image by Shutterstock

It is therefore understandable that local apple growers remain highly skeptical of any proposal that increases the biosecurity risk.

The US revisits apple access

Notwithstanding these longstanding concerns, the United States has again raised the issue of apple access in conjunction with a recent trade delegation visit.

One of our major concerns is that increased access to the US market for another of our horticultural products “is contingent on the approval of US apples into Australia”.

This is no longer a biosecurity issue but part of a broader trade negotiation.

While we fully support efforts to increase market access for our agricultural products, the apple industry should not be used as a bargaining chip to secure access for another commodity.

We will continue making representations to the Australian Government to ensure that our growers, our biosecurity system and our long-term food security are properly protected.

I would also encourage every grower to raise this issue directly with their federal and state Members of Parliament.

This article was first published in the Spring 2026 edition of AFG.

*All images are referential via Shutterstock.

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