Used cars should be inspected at port of origin, say forest owners

1.00pm - By GRANT FLEMING

All imported used cars should be inspected for potentially devastating pests like the gypsy month at foreign ports, say forest owners and environmentalists.

Quarantine officers have found two sets of gypsy moth eggs on vehicles imported from Japan in the past month. Eggs were found on the spare tyre of a four-wheel-drive at Port Nelson last Friday and late last month an inspector found eggs on a car at Lyttelton, near Christchurch.

The gypsy moth, which is already in the North Island, poses a multi-million dollar threat to forestry and horticulture. The moth has not yet established itself in the South Island.

Forest Owners Association chief executive Rob McLagan said today that every imported used car should be checked at its port of origin for gypsy moth eggs and other pests.

Only about 40 per cent of vehicles entering New Zealand were currently checked in this way, he said.

"We are very strongly of the view that all imported cars should be inspected at their port of origin... we would strongly recommend MAF (Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry) introduce that as their standard policy and that importers should carry the cost," he told NZPA.

"The cost of inspections in Japan should be seen as a normal cost of business for importers because the risk of something coming in is so high.

"At stake is a very serious effect on our forest industry if the Asian gypsy moth gets established and it's not only commercial forestry that will be affected. These pests are not fussy about what they eat... it will also be the parks and the reserves and private gardens."

If the moth, which eats trees and plants, was to become established in New Zealand damage to forests and the costs of eradication or containment could run into hundreds of millions of dollars, he said.

The Government is spending tens of millions of dollars on controversial spraying campaigns to eliminate the gypsy moth from Hamilton, where a single moth was found, and the painted apple moth from Auckland.

Mr McLagan said recent finds of gypsy moth eggs showed that locally-based MAF inspectors were doing a good job. However, inspecting vehicles at their point of origin would provide another line of defence against pests.

Forest and Bird biosecurity spokesman Geoff Keey said allowing used vehicles to come in without a check at their point of origin was in essence a subsidy to importers. Taxpayers, rather than importers, were bearing the cost of the risk of the moth getting established in New Zealand.

"And its not just the gypsy moth. All sorts of pests can come in on used cars as they have so many nooks and crannies where they can hide."

In recent times exotic mosquitoes had also come in on imported used vehicles, he said.

MAF forest biosecurity director Peter Thomson said although 40 per cent of used vehicles were currently checked offshore MAF was confident local checks were sufficient to find any pests piggybacking into the country.

"The fact that we are finding these (gypsy moth) eggs in New Zealand shows the system is working," he told NZPA.

Some checks were done at foreign ports for logistical reasons. If all the checks were done locally cars would have to be kept at local ports for a longer period of time.

He said there was also a risk that cars inspected at foreign ports could become infested after their inspection before they left the port. That meant additional checks also needed to be done in New Zealand.

But Green MP Ian Ewen-Street said importing used vehicles, machinery and tyres which had not been inspected overseas exposed New Zealand to unnecessary risks.

"The present situation -- where half of used cars are inspected here and the other half at the overseas source -- is a disaster waiting to happen," he said in a statement.

"It leaves the door open for the Asian gypsy moths and other biosecurity nasties to jump ship when they arrive on our shores," he said.

"While MAF deserve recognition for finding the egg masses, the current inspection regime presents a far higher risk than New Zealand's biosecurity can afford to take. "

- NZPA