THE apple industry is alarmed about a draft quarantine plan to allow Chinese apples into Australia.

The industry's quarantine expert, John Corboy, said he was yet to fully assess the detailed plan, "but alarm bells have already started ringing".

But there is better news on New Zealand apples, with the Kiwis' appeal to the world trade court unlikely to be resolved for more than a year.

"There's no danger of NZ apples coming in any time soon," a spokesman for federal Trade Minister Simon Crean said.

The draft plan on Chinese apples, released last week by Biosecurity Australia, says they could be imported as long as various quarantine safeguards are met.

It says 18 pests of concern are present in China and must be managed so the risk of importing them into Australia is reduced to a "very low level".

The pests include mites, oriental fruit fly, mealybugs, Japanese apple rust, apple brown rot, European canker, apple scab, apple and sooty blotch and flyspeck complex.

The draft plan said necessary quarantine safeguards included area freedom requirements, orchard control and surveillance, pressurised air-blasting, disinfection and inspections.

It said BA was satisfied China was free of fire blight after reviewing available information and visiting key export areas in September last year.

Mr Corboy said initial concerns were the report's treatment of China as a single producing region and uncertainty over what "area freedom" meant.

"We're also yet to be convinced that China is free of fire blight," he said.

There will be two months for consultations and written responses to the draft report. BA will then prepare a final report.

On NZ apples, Mr Crean's spokesman said NZ's appeal to the World Trade Organisation against Australia's plan for Kiwi apple imports was a slow process. The WTO panel formed in March last year to hear the appeal was currently consulting with scientific and technical experts, he said.

"On the basis of the current timetable, the WTO panel will not make its report public until some time in 2010," the spokesman said.

Mr Corboy said he believed NZ had "no hope" of proving Australia hadn't conducted a scientific import analysis or adhered to WTO agreements.