A lack of biosecurity preparation from the government and the kiwifruit industry almost certainly worsened the impact of vine disease Psa, which may have cost up to $930 million in lost exports.

That's the opinion of an independent review by the Sapere Research Group on how the industry responded to the bacterial disease first discovered in Te Puke in 2010.

A new report suggests the government and the kiwifruit industry were ill-prepared for the Psa outbreak.

However, despite being ill-prepared, the report says the industry has recovered more quickly than anticipated.

By 2017, production volumes and values are forecast to exceed what they were prior to the arrival of Psa and the New Zealand kiwifruit industry has quickly become the world leader in Psa management.

The recovery, the report says, can be attributed to more than good luck.

The industry was well served by its integrated nature, existing governance systems and the quick decision to establish a dedicated body (Kiwifruit Vine Health) to manage the response.

Extremely skilled leaders operating under enormous pressure and their relationships with government and the banking sector were also important, as was the focus on managing the human impacts of the bacteria and not just the bacteria itself.

The industry's 'can do” attitude and ability to adapt, coupled with substantial investment in the new kiwifruit breeding programme which created the more Psa-tolerant gold variety G3, helped the recovery.

However, the report's authors warn the industry must not become complacent.

The report reads: 'Following two good climatic and growing seasons, there are now concerns of growing complacency in the industry now with Psa and biosecurity protection more generally.

'Psa can still easily cause significant production losses in unfavourable conditions unless actively managed.

'Still, almost everyone we spoke to thinks the worst is over and the industry is well and truly on a path to recovery even if it there are bumps in the road ahead.”

KVH chairman Peter Ombler says many of the report's recommendations have already been put in place by the industry and KVH, while others are under action and some will result in new work.

He says: 'Overall this confirms KVH is focussed in the right areas.

'In particular, we are now working much closer with the Ministry for Primary Industries and other industries to ensure we are better prepared going forward.

"This has been a major focus since KVH was given the mandate to lead wider biosecurity for the industry.

'To ensure we are in a much stronger position for future biosecurity incursions that could harm our industry, we must take forward the learnings from the Psa response.”