Are you sending a small sample of grapes, vineyard soil or vine material from your vineyard to a laboratory for specific testing this vintage?

Ensure you are familiar with the correct sending requirements to meet the receiving state’s Plant Quarantine Standard or equivalent. Contact the receiving state for further information.

If you are sending samples from vineyards in a Phylloxera Risk Zone (PRZ) or Phylloxera Infested Zone (PIZ) to a laboratory inside a Phylloxera Exclusion Zone (PEZ), you will need to apply a disinfestation treatment to the sample prior to sending – this could involve freezing a grape bunch sample for 24 hours in a standard freezer at -18˚C, or drying a soil sample in an oven for 2 hours at 45˚C.

There will always be at least one form of biosecurity documentation you will need to complete to accompany a diagnostic sample as it’s consigned to the laboratory. However, the exact documentation will be dictated by your receiving state’s quarantine requirements, your phylloxera management zone, and any current biosecurity accreditations your receiving laboratory might hold.

If you are sending diagnostic samples out of a PRZ or PIZ, you will also need to comply with your origin state’s movement requirements to exit the zone, which is likely to include obtaining a Permit from the origin state biosecurity department prior to the sample being allowed to leave the quarantine zone.