Illegally planting contaminated seeds has seen a Christchurch company and one of its employees fined.
The company -- Canterbury Seed Company Ltd -- and the operator of its transitional facility, Adrian Bliss, were convicted in July after the seeds were distributed without proper biosecurity clearance.
They were today fined a total of
$5500 by Judge John Strettell in Christchurch District Court, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry said in a statement.
The company had imported a consignment of Phacelia (balo) from Hungary.
"Balo plants attract hover flies for aphid control and the balo seeds are also used for cosmetics production," the MAF statement said.
Two paddocks in Ashburton and Darfield were planted with the seeds, but the crops had to be destroyed by MAF after they were found to contain two species of weed not previously found in New Zealand.
"These weeds are considered to be serious weeds in arable crops in Europe and Africa," Jockey Jensen, MAF Biosecurity Authority Special Investigation Group, said.
"Should weeds like this become established in New Zealand they could pose a substantial threat to the agricultural sector."
Canterbury Seed Company were fined $4400 and Bliss $1100.
- NZPA
