The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry is commissioning an independent review of its importing rules as part of ongoing work into how the kiwifruit vine disease Psa entered New Zealand.

Director General Wayne McNee says the review is a sensible step to ensure MAF's systems are as good as they can be. It is welcomed by the kiwifruit industry which had requested the inquiry.

Wayne says in order to help the kiwifruit industry manage the disease's spread, MAF has looked into a number of possible ways the bacterium could have entered New Zealand and has produced a report summarising the results of those investigations.
'The report does not identify a definite means of introduction, but does find there are a number of potential pathways, including people, equipment, and pollen.”

Since the tracing report was finalised last month, MAF has completed additional preliminary research that shows live Psa bacteria can be found in kiwifruit pollen taken from inside closed flowers.

MAF's importing rules at the time of the Psa outbreak permitted imports of overseas kiwifruit pollen by the kiwifruit industry and others under strict conditions.

Pollen importation is now banned says Kiwifruit Vine Health general manger John Burke.

'But the review isn't about that – it's about the process. The actual tracing report gives various pathways into how we could have got Psa-V into the country.

'We're conscious of the fact that because the Ministers asking for a review around pollen importation everyone will put one and one together and get five and say well pollens the vector – but that's not necessarily the case.

'Why we asked for a review was because of the processes – we're concerned that there are proper processes in place around the importation of any material in relation to any primary sector.”

The MAF Psa-Pathway tracing report is at:
http://www.biosecurity.govt.nz/files/pests-and-diseases/psa-tracing-report.pdf