Positives seen in Zespri probe

Rob Thode

Western Bay of Plenty growers have welcomed a Serious Fraud Office investigation into Zespri and are cautiously optimistic it will find "nothing untoward".

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) confirmed this week it was investigating Zespri but would not reveal details.

Earlier this year a Zespri subsidiary was found guilty of being an accessory to under-declaring Customs duties by a Chinese court, which fined the unit $960,000, sentenced its employee to five years' imprisonment, and ruled gains of $11.6million should be repaid. It lost an appeal of the ruling in July.

Papamoa grower Rob Thode said he welcomed the investigation.

"It will be good because it will give growers a proper independent look into things, which we could really do with. It's just a reassurance thing that everything is okay, that there is nothing untoward."

Mr Thode said Zespri had a monopoly in the market so it was even more important to ensure everything was above board.

In July New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers launched its own inquiry following the China incident but Mr Thode said while he applauded and supported the advocate group, it was not completely independent from Zespri because it acted as a watchdog.

"If the SFO investigation goes all the way, it could potentially be hugely damaging so, yes, I'm very concerned about it, but at the moment we don't yet know a lot of what's going on," Mr Thode said.

"If the SFO only get to the first stage that will give growers a lot more confidence because it's from a fully independent industry."

Kiwifruit Growers' president Neil Trebilco said growers wanted to know more details about the investigation but the organisation had no information to give.

"The only concern I have around this is if growers think if SFO are investigating, then there must be something behind it.

"My response to that is not necessarily (the case) at all. It just maybe someone has asked a question and they are having a look at it. It doesn't necessarily mean they are taking a case."

Mr Trebilco said he found it odd a media representative found out about the investigation before industry leaders and Zespri. "I kind of wonder how well handled it has been by the SFO but you can't really make any judgment because we don't know what's going on."