Moth traps could get MAF out of flap

By ANNE BESTON environment reporter

The day Hamilton's Asian gypsy moth discovery was announced was a bad day for biosecurity official Peter Thomson.

It might have been the worst in what has been a run of bad news stories for the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry - gumleaf skeletoniser (another moth) spreading over South Auckland, fall webworm (also a moth) discovered in Mt Wellington, continued vociferous opposition to MAF's $90 million aerial blitz of painted apple moth in West Auckland, a major fruit-tree disease scare and crazy ants trapped at Mt Maunganui. But the ministry's director of forest biosecurity hoped that one live moth also brought with it a glimmer of good news.

"With the early-warning system in place, we hope we got it early," he said.

Proof its network of 1066 baited traps had caught the moth before it could get a wing-hold would be welcome to an agency whose job of policing New Zealand's borders against tiny invaders with strange names has become increasingly complex.

Meanwhile, Northland, Auckland, Waikato and Bay of Plenty security experts are monitoring the spread of guava moth, an Australian insect with an appetite for citrus fruit first discovered in a Kaitai mandarin orchard in 1999.

The latest run of unwelcome discoveries is probably just bad luck, but one statistic in the ministry's recent $1 million investigation into sea containers gives some idea of the scale of the problem: Container traffic has increased 180 per cent in just over a decade, to 420,000 containers landing here every year. Hitch-hiking a ride could be any number of nasties, from tiny soil-dwellers to poisonous snakes.

As MAF decides what changes to sea container inspections are needed, and then goes cap-in-hand to its political masters for money, wider changes are afoot.

The independent Biosecurity Council and the Auditor-General both issued report cards on NZ's biosecurity system late last year and made recommendations.

Chief among them are revamping biosecurity responsibilities between MAF and the ministries of Health and Conservation, with MAF taking a lead role; appointing a biosecurity advisory board to develop strategy, look at funding and suggest surveillance improvements; more rigorous performance criteria for all biosecurity programmes and injecting more science into decision-making.

Changes, being considered by an expert panel, are due to be announced on July 1.

The process is being watched carefully by a small army of independent scientists with their own views on MAF's abilities and failings.

Leading forestry expert Dr Gordon Hosking is one. He thinks a new, stand-alone biosecurity agency is the answer.

"Not some huge new bureaucracy but an over-arching agency that can bang heads together and get rid of all the baggage and inter-departmental competition that's gone on."

That option was not backed by the Biosecurity Council.

Throwing up the barriers against unwanted organisms costs the New Zealand taxpayer about $500 million a year. Bigger and better systems will cost more. Dr Hosking said if Asian gypsy moth was stopped this time, the way forward was clear. Where a sex-attractant or pheromone was commercially available, as it was for this moth, prevention was far better than response.

National Party agriculture spokesman David Carter called for the establishment of a cross-party committee of senior MPs, saying the threat was "too big to play politics".

United Future MP Larry Baldock said all sea containers had to be checked or biosecurity penny-pinching would impact on the economy.

"It seems today every creepy crawly known to man is reaching our shores, and in large measure that's because we won't spend enough on keeping these things out," he said.

A spokeswoman for Biosecurity Minister Jim Sutton said it would cost $90 million a year to check every sea container. Baseline biosecurity funding is $140 million a year.

"We're not ruling out looking at all containers but it will cost a lot," she said.

"Sea containers are a risk area . We've had a $1 million study into sea container risk and methods to counter that risk. A discussion document is currently out for public consultation. The minister intends to act on that by the end of the year, probably as part of the draft biosecurity strategy. We're in a constant process of improvement of biosecurity."

The Labour-led Government was spending about $50 million more a year in baseline biosecurity funding, she said. It had lifted screening of air passengers from 80 per cent to 100 per cent with soft tissue X-ray Machines at every international airport, and extra detection staff and detector dogs. All mail, other than from Antarctica, was now screened, she said.

Mr Carter said Prime Minister Helen Clark had to take a stand on the issue, because the Asian gypsy moth had the potential to devastate the $3 billion a year forestry industry.

"With our dependence on primary production, we can't afford to have these biosecurity breaches time and time again.

"This is not an area in which to play politics. Parliament already has a special cross-party committee to deal with issues of national security and intelligence. I believe there's a greater chance of being invaded by foot-and-mouth than a foreign power."

- Additional reporting: NZPA