Government plugs gaps in pests battle

By KEVIN TAYLOR AND ANNE BESTON

The Government has approved money to inspect all 450,000 sea containers that arrive in New Zealand each year as it seeks to strengthen border controls against biosecurity risks.

The regime will be implemented first next month at the ports of Auckland and Tauranga, which receive about two-thirds of New Zealand's imports, and the whole system should be effective across the country by December.

Currently only 110,000 to 120,000 containers are inspected annually.

The new system will require internal and external inspections of all containers.

About $780,000 of $3.5 million in spending approved by Cabinet yesterday for a new biosecurity strategy will go on the containers initiative, run by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.

Biosecurity Minister Jim Sutton said the implementation of the new container regime was identified as a high priority in the strategy, which took the Biosecurity Council three years to write.

It had been clear for some time that sea containers were the most vulnerable point in the biosecurity system, he said.

The strategy identified 57 "expectations" of the Government and agencies, including nine "capability gaps". These included:

* Unresolved regulatory issues which could delay access to overseas vaccines if there is a foot and mouth disease outbreak, although MAF says it hopes to fix the issue by the end of the year.

* Storing important biosecurity data on a range of information systems run by different groups.

* A lack of effective tools to respond to some pests and diseases. For example, there is no way of testing ship ballast water.

* Significant knowledge gaps in risk analysis.

Mr Sutton said most of the strategy's recommendations involved clarifying roles, improving co-ordination between agencies and improving decision-making.

New Zealand had probably the best biosecurity system in the world but the country could not be complacent.

The Government has also decided to make MAF the lead government agency for the biosecurity system, involving "change management" and some restructuring.

The move is designed to end the confusion, inconsistency and fragmentation of the present system which is run by four separate Government agencies.

MAF Director-General Murray Sherwin said the strategy's release and the Cabinet's decisions marked a new era in biosecurity.

The major elements of the changes would be completed by early next year.

Council chairman John Hellstrom said New Zealand already had world-leading biosecurity systems but they needed "more tuning".

Forest and Bird biosecurity officer Geoff Keey welcomed the strategy but said it was not the radical step many had sought.

The ministry would have to prove itself, and

New Zealanders might well clamour for an independent agency if there were more failures.

"No one is going to tolerate another painted apple moth or the news that yet another pest is too well-established to be eradicated."

He welcomed the move to inspect all containers, but was concerned about the appointment of non-MAF staff to do inspections.

Some plant and animal incursions include: the Southern saltmarsh mosquito, devil's tear thumb weed, bark beetle, citrus white fly, southern ringneck snake, Asian gypsy moth and tropical fire ant.


The strategy

Identify 57 "expectations" of Government agencies, including nine "gaps" in capability.

Spark changes in the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry as it becomes the agency to lead the biosecurity system.

Inspect all 450,000 sea containers that arrive in the country annually.

The Cabinet has approved $3.5 million to begin implementing the strategy.