According to the Xiamen Evening Newspaper, the Xiamen Inspection and Quarantine Bureau recently intercepted a one-time sending from the UK, containing seeds of 27 varieties, among which were large-leaf lupine, sweet corn and cosmos. In the laboratory, the sweet corn seeds tested positively for a harmful organism: Burkholderia Cepacia.
This is the first time in China that a mail check has resulted in a positive test for this particular bacteria and the first time that this bacteria was ever found in a Fujian trading post. Burkholderia Cepacia is a destructive disease for onion-like plants (genus Allium). If the bacteria spread in the fields, it could cause 89.1% of the production to rot and a 100% of all onions held in stock would be lost. In general, it resides in the seeds or bulbs of onions, carrots, tulips, daffodils, iris and other marketed plant seeds. The bacteria is mainly found in Australia, the US, New Zealand, the UK, Bulgaria, Brazil and other similar regions and countries.
