Zespri deputy chairman Peter McBride has been cleared of an allegation that he misused confidential information relating to the new Gold3 kiwifruit variety and its tolerance to the Psa vine-killing disease.
Sir Peter Trapski found that Mr McBride was not involved in, nor did he condone, the unlicensed grafting of Gold3 by his brother, Murray McBride, who co-owns Baygold.
On November 18 Peter McBride cautioned his brother not to proceed with the proposal as it would be wrong to do so, Sir Peter said.
The findings of Sir Peter's investigation into allegations of breach of trust and misuse of confidential material by a director were released to the Bay of Plenty Times by Zespri International, after the report was sent to the industry.
Murray McBride and his Baygold partner, Graeme Neilson, began grafting the first of 25.24 hectares on November 22, the report said.
They had removed 90 per cent of their vines because of the "rampant Psa" and they made the decision to graft "to survive, to support their neighbours and to act prudently with their banking partners".
They used budwood from Baygold's own properties and there was no Zespri involvement.
In his statement to Sir Peter, Murray McBride said his brother Peter cautioned against the action and added that the industry perception was the McBride kiwifruit interests were all linked and if they were to graft, it would look bad for him (Peter) in the positions he held.
Peter McBride was also chairman of Kiwifruit Vine Health (KVH).
In his statement, Peter McBride said he told Mr Neilson on November 16 that there was no certainty that Gold3 would be replacing Hort 16A (as they expected) and that would be an industry decision; an extremely political one.
Sir Peter said Zespri and KVH fulfilled their intentions to ensure all available information was continuously disclosed as it came to hand.
They freely and rapidly disseminated the information to the entire industry to allow growers to draw their own conclusions and to manage risk according to their own appetites.
"Murray [McBride] has been described to me as an extremely astute, very horticulturally skilled and observant, attending research field days and with a wide communication network," said Sir Peter.
"He is said to be a leader not a follower of ideas, extremely innovative and willing to back his own ideas with action, often on a large scale.
"Nothing I have seen in the course of my investigation would challenge that assessment."
Sir Peter said there was a common perception in the kiwifruit industry that the McBride brothers were "as thick as thieves".
He said his investigation showed this was not the case, nor was there such a thing as "The McBride Group".
Even before the disestablishment of the Lindisfarne operation in 2004, Peter and Murray had gone their own ways within the industry, Sir Peter said.
Their sibling rivalry had continued so that, as far as kiwifruit was concerned, they did not "see eye to eye" on sometimes major issues.
While they still maintained a brotherly respect for each other, they had separate and different styles and practices.
Sir Peter said the only joint or overlapping involvement in kiwifruit was in Trinity Lands Limited, a registered charity that now owns dairy farms in the Waikato and a number of kiwifruit orchards.
Murray was one of 12 volunteer, non-benefiting directors and Peter was Trinity Lands' general manager of kiwifruit.
The report said Trinity Lands had three shareholders - Lichfield Lands Incorporated, Longview Trust and Hillview Trust.
Peter McBride told Sir Peter no grafting of Gold3, or any other new variety, had occurred on any orchard owned by South-East Hort Limited, Trinity Lands or their own Family Trust without a licence from Zespri.