Papua New Guinea's multi-million dollar cocoa industry is under threat following the discovery of the cocoa pod borer moth in East New Britain Province.
The moth is a pest that has been found in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.
A female moth can lay 200 eggs that can multiply into millions in weeks.
Industry sources say they fear cocoa in the province could be wiped out and proper quarantine measures had to be set up so that the disease did not spread to other cocoa growing provinces.
East New Britain is one of the leading cocoa producers in the country with an estimated 34,000 hectares of cocoa containing up to 17 million trees.
At current world cocoa prices of 1,500 US dollars per tonne, East New Britain Province accounts for 30 million US dollars every year of export revenue from cocoa.
PNG's total cocoa export revenue for last year was 74 million US dollars.