The “temporary suspension” was enacted last Tuesday after the pest fumigation plant, one of the largest in the state, was linked to the discovery of fruit fly larvae in a nectarine at a grocery store at Devonport, in Tasmania’s north. - Read more of this Weekly Times article.

Tasmania's Primary Industries Minster vows his Biosecurity officers are "absolutely going to destroy these buggers" and dismisses concerns over his department's response to the state's fruit fly scare.-  Read more of this ABC News article.

CHINA’S burgeoning middle class will soon be snacking on Goulburn Valley fruit after SPC struck a lucrative deal with a major state-owned distributor.

Coca-Cola Amatil’s SPC and Goulburn Valley products will soon be sold at 4500 Chinese supermarkets and on e-commerce platforms as part of the new partnership agreement with China State Farm Agribusiness Shanghai.Well-known Chinese celebrity Yiqian Ye has already been enlisted as a brand ambassador to promote the products to aspirational Chinese consumers willing to pay a premium for Australian products. Read more of thise Weekly Time article.

Trade can now commence under improved protocols for the export of Australian cherries, stonefruits, table grapes and citrus.

Exporting of some stonefruits, citrus, cherries and table grapes from Australia to China will now become easier and faster under a series of new protocols ratified today (12 January).

The finalisation of the protocols comes after proposed changes to the Manual of Importing Country Requirements (MICoR) were announced in November 2017. The ammendments included approval for different modes of transit for fresh fruit including air and seafreight, which had previously been excluded for certain varieties. Read more of this Asiafruit article.

ROBINVALE ward Swan Hill councillor John Katis says growers need to take their share of responsibility in the fight against fruit fly.

Cr Katis, a former grape grower, said Australian Table Grape Association (ATGA) president John Argiro’s call for all backyard fruit trees to be chopped down was the wrong approach.

He said too many growers were not doing their part when it came to disposing of unwanted fruit. Read more of this Sunraysia Daily article.

WORKER SHORTAGE: There's mounting concern orchadists will struggle to find enough workers to pick this year's stone fruit - heavily affecting farmers' bottom lines. Click here to find out more.