As advised in the KVH Bulletin (24 April), the Plant Market Access Council (PMAC) including Zespri and KVH have been working on a project which aims to pre-emptively agree market access conditions with key markets in the event of future incursions of significant fruit fly species in New Zealand.

The project includes developing protocols which demonstrate how New Zealand will manage a fruit fly incursion and how exporters will therefore be able to reliably export fruit fly free product minimising any trade disruptions.

For trading partners to agree to these protocols, which if a breeding population of fruit fly is found would be based on cold disinfestation of fruit, the industry must be able to demonstrate their own procedures for implementing any agreed protocols.

Therefore, ISG has recently agreed to establish a small industry working group to identify and address associated operational issues.

The objectives for this working group will be to:

• Identify the key issues and the range of possible scenarios that need to be considered and planned for depending on what the nature of the fruit fly outbreak is, and what time of year it happens in.
• Develop a set of guidelines to assist individual post-harvest operators to develop their own documented quality management plan for approval by MPI should cold disinfestation of fruit be required by our markets.
• Discuss the guidelines with MPI for comment and agreement prior to publishing these to the wider industry.

It is essential for our industry to plan for what would need to be implemented, often at very short notice, in order to minimise market disruptions.

It’s important to note that while MPI are beginning the negotiations, it will likely take years for some countries to agree to these protocols.

New Zealand is tightening its borders by increasing scrutiny of yachts arriving in Northland this summer as a result of the two Queensland fruit fly detections in Whangarei early this year. This follows a review of how the fruit flies could have arrived in New Zealand which KVH participated in.

Eight extra quarantine inspectors will be working in Northland in ‘rummaging teams’, from October to mid-December when the bulk of yachts arrive.

MPI is also training detector dogs, working with locals, the navy and air force and contact yachties before they come to New Zealand.

Click here to read MPI's media release.

Click here to read the full article on the 3 News website.

As advised in the KVH Bulletin (31 July) MPI is carrying out two separate processes regarding pollen imports. One is reviewing the import health standard (IHS) for pollen for artificial pollination.

The importation of pollen into New Zealand remains prohibited as the potential risk of introducing further variants of Psa-V and other pathogens is still unknown.

So far advice has been received from a Technical Working Group made up of experts from the kiwifruit, bee and pollen industries. MPI has drafted an assessment of the potential for Psa to be associated with imported pollen. Other pathogens which may also be associated with imported pollen, and which may impact on the kiwifruit or bee industries have been identified by MPI, but have not yet been assessed.

MPI will provide an update on the assessment process by the end of September.

However, MPI has advised it’s unlikely the current prohibition on importing pollen for pollination will be lifted prior to this pollination season, if at all.
Therefore KVH’s earlier advice to growers for future pollination requirements stands:

• Manage your male vines—develop low-vigour growing systems
• Assess the health of your male vines—diseased males can impact future pollination requirements
• Detecting diseased males early will allow time to assess your future pollination requirements
• If males need to be cut out, ensure you have a plan for future pollination requirements
• Order pollen early from KVH-registered pollen providers for future pollination requirements
• Arrange harvest of early flowers for pollen milling wherever possible
• Store pollen for next season wherever possible
• Graft to more Psa-tolerant varieties

Last week KVH’s Chief Executive Barry O’Neil and Biosecurity Programmes Manager Andrew Harrison attended the Government Industry Agreement (GIA) Biosecurity Forum in Auckland. More than 40 of the 75 attendees were representing primary industry, including many of horticulture’s product groups.

The purpose of the forum is for all GIA signatories to share their understanding of biosecurity; and work together to enhance the system for all, as opposed to bilateral or multilateral collaboration on organism-specific readiness and response activities that will be achieved through Operational Agreements.

Last week’s meeting included an introduction to GIA, an information session on Import Health Standards and a site visit to biosecurity facilities around Auckland Airport.

Key discussion points from the Forum:

• Two industries have now signed the GIA Deed (kiwifruit and pork) and a number of other groups are expected to sign in the near future.
• Managing incursion responses under GIA, including rapid industry notification.
• Principles to guide negotiations around cost sharing and fiscal caps. 
• A briefing from the horticulture industry on its progress developing the Fruit Fly Operational Agreement.
• A report from Andrew Coleman, the Ministry for Primary Industries Deputy Director, on his department’s current and planned activities across the biosecurity system.
• Minimum commitments. KVH and Dairy NZ gave a perspective on what minimum biosecurity commitments should be.

KVH will also attend the next GIA Forum in March 2015.

 

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has identified a potential increase in the threat to New Zealand from the Queensland Fruit Fly (QFF) due to an increase in QFF populations and its spread into previously pest-free areas of Australia.

As a result of this increased threat, MPI has been looking at each pathway and what can be done to better manage the risks according to their recently released QFF Pathway Analysis Report. The analysis started before the two QFF detections this year and was completed after the responses were completed. 

The report gives a good overview of how New Zealand manages the fruit fly threat but does not specifically identify a likely pathway for the two fruit fly found in Whangarei.

Click here for a copy of the report.

The interim Fruit Fly Council established to develop the Operational Agreement for fruit fly under GIA has met monthly and made good progress in clarifying the approach to be used. 

The majority of the agreement is expected to be completed by the end of September. The remaining issues to address will then be finalising the cost shares between government and industry and agreeing how the industry shares will be calculated.

This work is progressing with a subcommittee made up of KVH, Pipfruit NZ and NZ Wine growers meeting with MPI. The objective is to have this completed before the end of October; and the goal is for the Operational Agreement to come into effect early 2015.

Last week, the National Biosecurity Capability Network (NBCN) published some interesting facts about the number of border and post border interceptions occurring in New Zealand. These figures show the pressure that occurs at the border on a weekly basis, and the amount of incursions that would occur in New Zealand if we did not have a comprehensive biosecurity system.

In just a single week in February, New Zealand had:

• 35 new notifications of pests, diseases or organisms and 156 on-going incursion investigations or responses.
• 115,082 international air passenger arrivals—resulting in seizure of 3,079 risk items and 126 infringement notices (2.7% of passengers with risk items).
• 13,634 sea containers arrivals into New Zealand—233 required decontamination (1.7 % of containers contaminated).
• 4,296 cargo lines, of which 792 were inspected and 276 items were seized (6% of cargo lines contained risk items).
• 500,000 mail items at the international mail centre—635 items required further inspection, 103 risk items treated or destroyed (0.02% of mail items contained risk items).
• 212  used vehicles or machinery items were imported—52 required decontamination (24.5% used vehicles or machinery contaminated)

As a proportion of total goods entering by each pathway, used vehicles and machinery have a much higher rate of risk items requiring treatment. To determine how this pathway is managed and the level of risk this pathway presents, KVH will profile this pathway in the coming weeks as part of our border profile series.

• Click here to read previous items from this border profile series.

The Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB) is causing significant impacts in the USA, and there are concerns regarding the effects this pest could have on horticultural sectors in New Zealand. KVH, along with other horticultural sectors and MPI, have been working to strengthen the border to keep BMSB out, along with developing a surveillance and control programme to detect and eradicate it should it arrive. 

In addition, KVH has meet with New Zealand researchers to agree the focus of the R&D efforts, which include improving our detection technologies at the border, lure and kill approaches, and biological control options that may be available. 

This pest has been assessed by KVH as one of the top five priority pests facing our industry, and there are reports from China (where it is a native) of it causing damage to kiwifruit.

• Click here to read more information about the BMSB.

As advised in last week’s KVH Bulletin (21 Aug) KVH has been advocating for improvements to minimise biosecurity risks on several pathways. Last week focused on the cruise ship pathway, this week will focus on transitional facilities.

Transitional facilities hold un-cleared risk goods for inspection, secure storage or treatment until they receive biosecurity clearance or are re-shipped or destroyed.

While people often think of the border as a small number of places (airports and marine ports) where clearance activities occur, the reality is very different. Most biosecurity clearance activities are occurring at transitional facilities; MPI Inspectors carry out risk profiling when imported goods first arrive at a marine port or airport, clear a small proportion of such goods at those ports (those deemed to pose the highest risk), and then direct most imported goods to transitional facilities where they receive final clearance by a non-MPI accredited person.

There are approximately 6500 such transitional facilities operating in New Zealand, which means our border is very ‘diffuse’.

The key risk is the arrival of ‘hitchhiker’ pests. These tend to be insect pests, and include high-risk organisms of concern to the kiwifruit industry such as, fruit flies, brown marmorated stink bugs and white peach scale.

KVH believes the current policy approach and standards for transitional facilities need to be re-evaluated and strengthened. There are currently too many transitional facilities operating in New Zealand and of variable quality, representing a key vulnerability in NZ’s border arrangements.

Given the level of risk and the key role transitional facilities play in New Zealand’s border, it is critical we have highly trained and skilled people operating to carry out clearance activities within transitional facilities.

KVH shared its concerns with the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) in early 2014, and is pleased that MPI appears to be seriously looking at this issue and potential solutions.

For more information about the transitional facilities risk pathway, click here to view the fifth profile document in KVH’s ‘Profile Series: Border Interventions on Import Pathways’.

Following a review of biosecurity risks associated with Port of Tauranga and Rotorua Airport last year, KVH identified initial concerns with incoming cruise ships and raised these with the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI).

KVH has been advocating for improvements that further minimise biosecurity risks through the cruise ship pathway. These include: 

• Improved understanding of the risks. By buiding a view of what MPI is intercepting when they search passengers and by measuring slippage.
• Increased use of detector dogs on this pathway. To intercept risk items and act as a ‘ deterrant’.
• Fruit and vegetables to meet NZ Import Requirements. This is a long-term strategy and what KVH believe is key to substantively eliminate risk. If implemented, this will mean all cruise ships arriving into New Zealand will only be able to load fruit that meets New Zealand’s Import Health Standard for fresh produce—the same standards applied to imported fruit bought in New Zealand supermarkets.

KVH acknowledges that some key improvements have been made by MPI over the last 12 months to tighten biosecuirty through this pathway.

MPI are now using dogs for all first port of arrivals and many second ports of arrival. Detector dogs have been used on 150 cruise ship visits resulting in the interception of 500 biosecurity risk items, of which 76 percent were fresh produce.

The cruise ship industry has more than doubled in size over the last five years (Cruise New Zealand). These cruise ships enter New Zealand waters from Australia or the Pacific Islands, regions harbouring high-risk pests and diseases including fruit flies, which are the greatest biosecurity threat to New Zealand’s horticultural industries.

KVH will continue to proactively strive for even better border intervention to reduce risk to the kiwifruit industry. 

For more information about the cruise ship risk pathway, click here to view the fourth profile document in KVH’s ‘Profile Series: Border Interventions on Import Pathways’.

This week, a paper was presented to the KVH Board that uses a risk matrix to identify the high priority threats to the kiwifruit industry.

On the KVH website there are almost fifty pests and pathogens identified as potential threats to the kiwifruit industry. KVH has developed a risk matrix to provide a structured and objective method of prioritising these organisms into a shorter list for the purpose of readiness and response planning.

The report is a draft and we will be requesting subject experts to review the methodology and results of this report. However, we encourage growers to read the material and engage with KVH their views on this subject.

It is important to also remember the next incursion may not be the organism we have prepared for. Therefore, it is important to maintain a diversity of organisms in the focus group if possible and this is reflected in the report where organisms have finished with equal risk ratings.

The top five threats identified in the report are:

• Fruit Flies (Mediterranean, Oriental and Queensland)
• Brown Marmorated Stink Bug
• Psa—non NZ pathovars
• Spotted wing drosophila
• Ceratocystis fimbriata

Click here to read the report and see the matrix that was used to identify these organisms.

In May last year the government announced a new direction for science investment by establishing ten ‘National Science Challenges’. The National Science Challenges are established to tackle some of the biggest science-based issues and opportunities facing New Zealand and take a more strategic approach to science investment.

One of the National Science Challenges—New Zealand’s Biosecurity Heritage—is of particular interest to the horticulture sectors as it will direct future investment in both biosecurity and biodiversity research.

MBIE have recently approved the 10-year research plan and allocated new funding of $25.8m for the first five year period.

The research undertaken in this Challenge will be designed to protect and manage New Zealand’s biodiversity, improve biosecurity and enhance the country’s resilience to harmful organisms.

A broad range of stakeholder industries, including KVH, HortNZ and New Zealand Wine Growers, were involved in the development of this challenge and preparation of the research plan. This was through representation on a focused stakeholder advisory group and stakeholder workshops.

KVH and other horticultural sectors will continue be actively engaged. KVH Chief Executive, Barry O’Neil has been appointed to the Governance Group; and KVH Biosecurity Programmes Manager, Andrew Harrison is part of the Industry Advisory Group.

• Click here for more information about the New Zealand’s Biosecurity Heritage challenge.
• Click here for more information about the National Science Challenge.