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Borers detected in Bunnings bamboo imported from China

Serious biosecurity breach as Bunnings hardware stores find wood-eating pest in bamboo screens imported from China.

Bamboo screens imported from China and sold at Bunnings.
Bamboo screens imported from China and sold at Bunnings.

Bamboo screens imported from China and sold at Bunnings hardware stores have been found to be infested with a pest known for decimating wooden furniture and other timber products in a serious biosecurity breach.

Northern Territory’s Department of Primary Industries and Resources detected a bamboo borer, or dinoderus minutus, in the Eden brand of bamboo screening, which is imported from China and sold across Bunnings stores.

News of the infestation comes a week after Chinese customs banned barley imports from Perth-based co-operative CBH after it claimed to have found “harmful weeds” in Chinese shipments.

The ban was the latest in a series of suspensions the communist regime has slapped on Australian products amid worsening relations between Beijing and Canberra.

But it appears the detection of the live borer in Chinese bamboo screening has exposed flaws in its own measures to eradicate pests in its products before exporting.

The borer is native to Asia but has become widespread across the globe via the trade of infested bamboo products. It, along with three other beetles, are responsible for more than 90 per cent of insect damages on harvested culms and finished bamboo products, according to the Department of Agriculture.

Rather than slap a ban on the Chinese bamboo screens, Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said the government would work with the importer to ensure it did not happen again.

“As a trading nation, Australia maintains strict biosecurity protocols for both imports and exports of goods, however, such incidents do occur from time to time,” Mr Littleproud said.

“We work with all importers to ensure they understand our protocols so that risk is minimised. It is important that any incidents are reported and followed up to ensure containment and treatment occurs as quickly as possible.”

Australian authorities alerted last year

Tradesman Trevor Young alerted Australian authorities in November last year to the breach after he noticed borer holes and dust in bamboo screening he had bought from a Bunnings store in Darwin.

“I was told each shipment/container is gassed with methyl bromide, which should kill a brown dog but obviously not a borer,” Mr Young said.

He sent a sample of the product to the Northern Territory Department of Primary Industries and Resources, which detected the bamboo borer.

“The specimens are, as expected, the bamboo borer dinoderus minutus. This species is established in all bioregions globally including Australia, and is found in NT and in most states in Australia. It is a pest of bamboo products,” said Dr Brian Thistleton, a principal entomologist at the NT DPIR.

When Mr Young later alerted Bunnings, the hardware chain responded that current control measures, including fumigation, were not always 100 per cent effective.

Rare to detect borers

Bunnings compliance manager for biosecurity and nursery standards Robert Chin told The Australian it was rare to detect borers in bamboo products sold at Bunnings.

“Our bamboo screen supplier ensures the product undergoes fumigation to the regulated standard before it is shipped and the product is treated a second time with fumigation as an additional measure, which is above the standard requirements for this type of product,” he said.

“Because of our supplier’s thorough quality assurance protocols, cases where borer are detected in the product or the packet are extremely rare. Borer damage is also known to occur locally, as Australia has a number of indigenous and endemic borers.

“On the rare occasion this does occur, we follow the directions of the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment on the best way to safely destroy the product.”

Australia has some of the toughest biosecurity protections in the world and for that reason its products have been valued among Chinese consumers as being clean and green.

But after Prime Minister Scott Morrison spearheaded a push for an inquiry into the origins of COVID-19, which was first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year, relations between Canberra and Beijing have gradually worsened.

In early May, the Chinese ambassador to Australia threatened a boycott of Australian products and industries. Soon after Beijing imposed punitive 80 per cent tariffs on Australian barley following an anti-dumping investigation.

It has also since banned imports from five beef abattoirs in Queensland and launched an anti-dumping investigation in Australian wine.

But Beijing has not just been targeting Australian products. The final two journalists working for Australian media in mainland China, Michael Smith, of the Australian Financial Review, and the ABC’s Bill Birtles, were evacuated from the country as police and local authorities moved to detain them.

It followed the detainment of Beijing-based Australian journalist Cheng Lei, a popular television host on the state-controlled China Global Television Network.

The government urges consumers to report any pests found in imported goods via its Secure Report hotline on 1800 798 636 or to the relevant state or territory government on the Exotic Plant Pest Hotline on 1800 084 881.

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Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/companies/borers-detected-in-bunnings-bamboo-imported-from-china/news-story/9671e70d4bc7879818852cf753f37882