Freight company Auslink sentenced for cutting corners on biosecurity rules

A freight company that cut corners on biosecurity rules has been sentenced for the “unacceptable risk” it posed to New Zealand’s biosecurity.

Auckland-based Auslink and its manager have been fined a collective $28,000 for failing to complete biosecurity checks and transporting 15 sea containers to unapproved locations for unpacking.

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) prosecuted them under the Biosecurity Act.

Auslink logistic manager Christopher James Manning was sentenced today with $12,000 worth of fines, while Auslink received a further $16,250 fine.

“The rules are there for a reason – to protect our borders from unwanted biosecurity threats,” said MPI director of investigations Gary Orr.

The company was contracted by MPI to complete checks to protect New Zealand’s native species and unique ecosystem from unwanted pests or predators that can arrive with international shipping.

Auslink sent 15 sea containers without full biosecurity checks in the span of four months from December 2021 to April 2022 to unapproved locations for unpacking.

“Placing sea containers that have not had complete biosecurity checks on to grass risks the potential for exotic pests that might be present in or on the container to get into New Zealand soil or vegetation,” Orr said.

The Biosecurity Act states all sea containers arriving in New Zealand must be sent from the port of first arrival to an MPI-approved facility for inspection and unpacking.

While Auslink’s sea containers were sent from an approved facility, the biosecurity checks were not completed.

“None of the required biosecurity checks were done in full. In the end, 13 of the 15 sea containers were sent to what we’d describe as a grass paddock at a farm that would never be approved as a transitional facility,” Orr said.

“They [unchecked shipping containers] leave the country vulnerable to pests or unwanted organisms that could have a devastating effect on the environment and people’s livelihoods.”

MPI works with the Department of Conservation to preserve and protect native New Zealand areas and to manage threats from invasive pests and diseases.

Orr said an MPI investigation found no exotic pests in the containers.

“While we subsequently confirmed that no exotic pests were found in or on the 15 containers, the defendants took an unacceptable risk with New Zealand’s biosecurity.”