Newsroom

Bird flu: New Zealand has had two detections of H5N1 bird flu, with no new cases since 17 July. Stay alert, avoid sick or dead birds, wash your hands and clean your gear after being outdoors, and report groups of three or more sick or dead wild birds to MPI on 0800 80 99 66. Varroa mite: Millions of bees are being moved from Western Australia to South Australia after varroa mite reduced bee numbers needed for pollination. The situation highlights the importance of strong biosecurity to protect food production.

Biosecurity New Zealand has expanded its public awareness work to encourage international travellers to declare or dispose of risk goods before arriving in New Zealand. New signage has been installed at key transit airports in Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok and Shanghai, alongside targeted digital campaigns in China, the Philippines and India. The campaigns focus on commonly seized food items and are delivered in local languages to help travellers understand New Zealand’s border requirements. Friends and family already living in New Zealand are also being targeted through local advertising, reinforcing that many food products are readily available here and don't need to be brought across the border. To support these campaigns, travellers can click through to border information on the Biosecurity New Zealand website, translated into Simplified Chinese and Hindi.

Birds can carry kiwifruit seed far beyond orchard boundaries, helping wild kiwifruit establish in new areas. Once established, it can become a difficult and costly weed to manage. We have a new one minute video showing how seed dispersal happens and the simple steps everyone can take to prevent it. If you're handling kiwifruit after harvest, remember: don't spread seed - drop it, mulch it. Watch the video

We’re currently reviewing the National Kiwifruit Pathway Management Plan (Pathway Plan) and there’s still a couple of days left to have your say and win. The review aims to ensure the Pathway Plan remains fit-for-purpose for managing biosecurity risks across the kiwifruit industry, and will help identify what's working well, where improvements can be made, and which areas should be prioritised for the future. Your feedback is important and we want to hear from growers, orchard managers, contractors, nursery operators, post-harvest representatives, consultants, and others involved in the kiwifruit industry. The survey takes around five minutes to complete, and everyone who participates can enter a prize draw to win one of two $100 Prezzy cards. Contact details collected for the draw will be kept separate from survey responses and used only for administering the prize draw. Have your say here.

Our Annual General Meeting (AGM) is coming up and grower members have now received AGM packs, including personalised voting information, by email from Electionz. If an email address was not available, Electionz have posted printed copies to members. A copy of the AGM packs can be viewed on the KVH website here. Nominations have been received for two candidates for the Grower Director vacancy – Dave Tanner and James Towers. Therefore, an election is required. Profiles for each are included in the AGM pack. For reference you can directly view Dave’s profile here and James’s profile here. The AGM will be followed by the NZKGI and Zespri annual meetings. Where: Mercury Baypark, Mount Maunganui When: 9.00am, Thursday 20 August

We’ve published our 2025/26 Annual Report, providing a comprehensive overview of how biosecurity readiness translated into real-world outcomes over the past year. The report reflects a year where preparedness was put to the test, including responses to fruit fly incursions, a brown marmorated stink bug detection, and the ongoing yellow-legged hornet response. It highlights KVH’s key achievements and performance outcomes, while also demonstrating how levy investment was used to deliver biosecurity outcomes for the industry. Read the 2025/26 report.