Growers in New Zealand have expressed concern after the minister of agriculture announced the government is supporting continued attempts to make the horticulture industry pay to clean up pest incursions.
Only two weeks after being told that 100 per cent trans-Tasman air travel baggage screening is to end, the ministry of agriculture has defied industry advice again by pursuing “joint resourcing” biosecurity policy, Horticulture New Zealand senior business manager Ken Robertson said.
He said: “The policy attempts to assure industry that our agreement to pay for the clean-up of a pest incursion will be rewarded with more involvement in the decision-making around the response to a pest incursion.
“The problem with this is, wouldn’t they want to take our advice anyway? Why do we have to pay to get them to listen to us?”
“This joint-resourcing discussion is not new, it has been going on since 2007 - and HortNZ and our 7,000 growers have opposed it from the outset."
The New Zealand horticulture industry has repeatedly asked the ministry if it can avoid supporting a plan that requires the industry to guarantee payment for pest incursion clean-ups at considerable costs to all elements of horticulture in the country.
The clean-up after the discovery of the painted apple moth in Auckland in 1999 cost $65 million (£27m) and the attempted clean-up of varroa, which is now spread throughout New Zealand, is close to $20m.
“The bottom line is risks are created by imports but it appears costs are always to be met by exporters,” Robertson added.
