Seen something unusual? MAKE A REPORT
Seen something unusual? MAKE A REPORT
05/01/2025
Further updates will be published here on the KVH website when significant information/changes occur. The biosecurity response to the find of a single male Oriental fruit fly in Papatoetoe is making good progress with extra traps in place, stepped up checks, legal controls introduced, special bins delivered for fruit and vegetable waste disposal, and a mobile lab in place. There were already 187 surveillance traps in the Papatoetoe/Mangere area, and by the end of today an extra 105 will be in place within a 1500m area of the original find. Yesterday legal controls were introduced to restrict the movement of fruit and vegetables around the location where the Oriental fruit fly was found to stop the spread of any others that may be out there. The response team have been delivering information to residential letterboxes about the two zones affected by restrictions and people can also find full information about what they need to do here. People will also notice biosecurity signage up in the area and special disposal bins for fruit and vegetable waste. Every household in Zone A will have a fruit and vegetable disposal bin, and in Zone B, there will be bins placed around the edge of the zone, primarily on major transport routes and further bins placed within the zone. The bins in Zone A will be cleared daily initially, then as required. At present, the restrictions will be in place for a fortnight. A mobile laboratory to examine fruit and vegetables collected from around Papatoetoe for Oriental fruit fly larvae and eggs has been set up. The mobile lab work and checking of fruit helps to provide an extra layer of certainty that there are no other fruit flies out there. To report suspected finds of fruit fly, call Biosecurity New Zealand's hotline on 0800 80 99 66. Further updates will be published here on the KVH website when significant information is available. Detection and response activities - including posters and resources in many languages - are available on the Biosecurity New Zealand website here.Oriental fruit fly and fact sheet images are on the KVH website here.Past updates from KVH are on the KVH website here.
Read more04/01/2025
Biosecurity New Zealand has now placed legal controls on the movement of fruit and vegetables in Papatoetoe. The move follows the detection of a single male Oriental fruit fly in a surveillance trap in the area. To date, no other flies have been found in surveillance traps. Biosecurity New Zealand staff are busy in the area today laying more traps and giving out information to households. Rules now in place prohibit moving fruit and vegetables out of a specified controlled area around where the fruit fly was found. The controlled area has two zones – A and B. Zone A is a 200m zone, with 198 properties. Zone B covers a 1500m area, with 5,470 properties. A detailed map of the controlled area and a full description of the boundaries and rules in place is available here. Zone A No whole fresh fruit and vegetables, except for leafy vegetables and soil free root vegetables, can be moved outside Zone A. This applies to all produce, regardless of whether it was bought or grown. Zone B All fruit and vegetables grown within Zone B cannot be moved out of the controlled area. These legal controls are an important precaution while we investigate whether there are any further fruit flies present in the area. Should there be any more flies out there, this will help prevent their spread out of the area. It is likely the restrictions will be in place for at least two weeks. Signs will also be put in place notifying people of the restrictions and marking the controlled area boundaries. Detail about the controlled area Zone A No fruit and vegetables (other than leafy or soil free root vegetables and cooked, processed, preserved, dried, frozen and canned fruit) can be moved from Zone A of the controlled area. Compost and green waste from gardens also cannot be moved out of this zone. Residents in Zone A are asked to avoid composting fruit and vegetables. To dispose of fruit and vegetable waste, use a sink waste disposal unit if available, or bins provided by Biosecurity New Zealand. These bins will be delivered shortly, and residents advised of their location. Zone B No fruit and vegetables grown in the Zone B can be moved out of the controlled area. You are free to move commercially purchased fruit and vegetables (e.g. fruit and vegetables brought at the supermarket) out of the area. Home grown produce waste and garden waste needs to be disposed of in Biosecurity New Zealand bins.Read the 3 January update here.Read more about Oriental fruit flies on the KVH website here – including images.Read more about the detection and response activities on the Biosecurity New Zealand website here.
Read more03/01/2025
Activities are under way and extra field teams are today in Papatoetoe, Auckland, after the find of a single male Oriental fruit fly in a suburban backyard surveillance trap. Biosecurity New Zealand has confirmed checks of the other 187 traps in the Papatoetoe/Mangere area did not find any fruit flies in them, however, previous experience with the successful eradication of several different types of fruit fly is that other insects might be found, so it is important we move quickly. Trapping and testing are being ramped up, with daily checks in a 200m zone from the original find and three daily testing in a second zone out to 1500m. There have been 12 incursions of different fruit fly in Auckland and Northland since 1996 and all have been successfully eradicated, thanks to the combined efforts of Biosecurity New Zealand, horticulture partners including KVH, and local communities. KVH is working closely with Biosecurity New Zealand and other horticultural Government Industry Agreement (GIA) partners on these actions to minimise the risk to kiwifruit growers. The main points for kiwifruit growers to note at this stage are: There are field teams out in the area checking properties and setting traps to attract any fruit flies that may be in the area. The aim is to find any population present and eradicate it. The Oriental fruit fly is a serious horticultural pest. It feeds on and spoils a wide range of fruit and vegetables. It is important that we understand as soon as possible if the insect is a solitary find or if there is a bigger breeding population in Papatoetoe. Until we issue further information, if you live or work in Papatoetoe, do not take any whole fresh fruit and vegetables out of your property. Home and business owners around the location will be receiving information shortly from Biosecurity New Zealand about what actions to take. More instructions, including a map of the affected zones and details of the requirements for each zone, will be issued once the initial investigation is completed. New Zealand’s biosecurity surveillance traps do a good job of locating any fruit flies in the area. However, if you find larvae in fruit from your garden (they look like small grains of rice), report it to us on 0800 665 825 or call Biosecurity New Zealand on 0800 80 99 66. This find shows the effectiveness of our surveillance trapping system – there are more than 7,800 traps set nationwide and checked regularly. These enable us to find fruit flies early and enable a faster and more effective response if finds are made. Read more about the detection and response activities on the Biosecurity New Zealand website here. Read more about Oriental fruit flies here – including images.
Read more20/12/2024
Merry Christmas from the KVH team. We wish you a safe and relaxing holiday period with your loved ones. The KVH office will be closed from Monday 23 December 2024 and will reopen at 8.30am on Monday 6 January 2025. If any urgent issues arise during this period, please feel free to get in touch by email or report unusual pest or disease symptoms on kiwifruit or vines online here. We will be regularly monitoring these channels and will respond as soon as possible. For urgent reporting of any unusual pests or diseases, the Biosecurity New Zealand hotline (0800 80 99 66) operates 24/7 over the holidays as per usual.
Read more13/12/2024
KVH’s submission on proposed amendments to the Biosecurity Act (as completed and submitted on Friday 13 December) can be read here. The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is leading the review consultation process and our comprehensive submission on behalf of the kiwifruit industry addresses most of the proposed changes, as these have a bearing on how the biosecurity system will operate in the future. Significant areas for our sector that we have commented on relate to funding and compensation, readiness and response, and long-term management. MPI will now analyse submissions, publish a summary, and make recommendations to the Minister for Biosecurity. It is anticipated Cabinet will consider final policy proposals in 2025. Thank you to those who have discussed the submission with us. We welcome any further questions or feedback about the process at info@kvh.org.nz. Visit the MPI Biosecurity Act review webpage for detailed proposed amendments information Read more about how we developed our submission
Read more02/12/2024
In the last Bulletin we mentioned the consultation underway on several proposed amendments to the Biosecurity Act 1993. Our draft submission is now available to view here. We welcome the opportunity for further discussion so please do get in touch at info@kvh.org.nz by 13 December when the submission is due if you have questions. The consultation and our submission have been part of our presentation at the recent Grower Roadshows too, and we thank those of you who have already spoken with us about it. The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is leading this process and our comprehensive submission on behalf of the kiwifruit industry will address most of the proposed changes, as these have a bearing on how the biosecurity system will operate in the future. Some of the proposals are significant to our sector, particularly those in the sections about funding and compensation, readiness and response, and long-term management.
Read more02/12/2024
The holidays are almost here and with them come extra biosecurity risks posed by unpacking Christmas goodies and luggage. Remember, and be sure to remind family and friends, to be on the lookout for unwanted guests of the “bug” kind and carefully unpack and check any packages or bags from overseas for hitchhiking pests. Open parcels in a closed room and if you find anything unusual, catch it, photograph it, and report it. Looking across previous years it is estimated that around 3,400 items of undeclared fresh produce will be seized from passengers over the Christmas period alone! Kiwifruit growers and other passengers associated with primary sectors travelling over the Christmas and New Year period may find they experience more interventions when returning to New Zealand. This is because they potentially pose a greater biosecurity risk based on the likelihood they may have visited offshore orchards and farms during their travels. KVH has produced a useful one-page poster outlining everything growers can do to help reduce biosecurity risk and what you can expect through border control when returning home.
Read more02/12/2024
With the upcoming Christmas holiday period, the last date for Hill Labs Psa testing will be Tuesday 24 December 2024. The last date for Unusual Symptom sample processing at Plant Diagnostics will be Friday 20 December (for already received samples). Services will resume at both labs from Monday 6 January 2025. Please contact KVH at info@kvh.org.nz if urgent testing is potentially required during the Christmas closure.
Read more04/12/2024
Earlier this week KiwiNet members from across post-harvest organisations, and representatives from Farmlands, Horticentre and Fruitfed, met with KVH for an industry biosecurity and readiness update. This included a review of the KiwiNet purpose and ongoing value to the industry, 10 years on from the initial launch in 2014. As a theme setter Lisa Gibbison presented the findings from her recently completed Kellogg project “Who do growers trust in a time of crisis?”. A key message was the value of developing and maintaining networks across time as these build the trust that knits people together in times of crisis. KVH and Zespri were seen as trusted industry leaders. Matt Dyck, KVH Biosecurity Manager outlined the interaction between the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and support organisations in the event of a biosecurity response, and the commonalities between readiness training for biosecurity and the newer industry Emergency Response Management (ERM) framework in which KVH also has a key role. Updates on our industry surveillance projects, a whirlwind global overview of biosecurity challenges, and a short update on unusual symptoms highlighted both the emerging threats and the valuable research projects and collaborations that are ongoing in the biosecurity space. More information about KiwiNet can be found here. A copy of Lisa’s Kellogg research project and presentations from the workshop will be posted on the KVH website shortly.
Read more02/12/2024
Next in our series of team member introductions, is Senior Biosecurity Advisor, Erin Lane. We started this series to share more about the roles we have, and how each of us interact with you, our readers and growers, in our day-to-day activities. I joined KVH in February 2019, coming from the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) where I worked as a Quarantine Officer in Auckland and later in Wellington on regulation and developing response and readiness plans. My primary role here at KVH is to work with both growers and the wider kiwifruit industry to raise awareness about biosecurity threats and to support the industry in managing any risks that do arise. One of the biggest threats to kiwifruit – and many other fruit and vegetable industries in New Zealand - is the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB). An interesting fact about me and my travels is that I’ve worked closely with the Japanese vehicle and machinery industry to ensure their supply chains are biosecurity robust and that vehicles and machines arriving in New Zealand are free of these bugs. This involved spending six weeks working out of the New Zealand Embassy in Tokyo, traveling across Japan to meet with manufacturers, inspect factories, storage facilities, and ports to assess risks. I’m probably most well-known for my role in reviewing the most unwanted threat list for the kiwifruit industry, drawing on my knowledge and experience of import pathways and treatments. The most unwanted list is what we use to produce a lot of the resources we create for the industry. I really enjoy being part of the kiwifruit industry and raising my young family here in the Bay of Plenty. I look forward to continuing KVH’s important work with you all.
Read more27/11/2024
Merry Christmas from the KVH team. We wish you a safe and relaxing holiday period with your loved ones. The KVH office will be closed from Monday 23 December 2024 and will reopen at 8.30am on Monday 6 January 2025. If any urgent issues arise during this period, please feel free to get in touch by email or report unusual pest or disease symptoms online here. For urgent reporting of unusual pests and diseases, the Biosecurity New Zealand hotline (0800 80 99 66) operates 24/7 as per usual.
Read more18/11/2024
In the last Bulletin we mentioned the consultation underway on several proposed amendments to the Biosecurity Act 1993. The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is leading this process and KVH is currently completing a comprehensive submission on behalf of the kiwifruit industry that will address most of the proposed changes, as these have a bearing on how the biosecurity system will operate in the future. Some of the proposals are significant to our sector, particularly those in the sections about funding and compensation, readiness and response, and long-term management. Our draft submission is now available to view here. We welcome the opportunity for further discussion so please do get in touch at info@kvh.org.nz at any stage if you have questions. The consultation will be part of our presentation at the upcoming Zespri Grower Roadshows too.
Read moreThe biosecurity response to the find of a single male Oriental fruit fly in a surveillance trap in a suburban Auckland backyard is making good progress.
The fly was found in Papatoetoe, Friday 3 January 2025.
There are now extra traps installed, stepped up checks, legal controls introduced (likely to be in place for at least two weeks), special bins delivered for fruit and vegetable waste disposal, and a mobile lab in place.
Response updates are posted below as/when significant developments take place.
The Oriental fruit fly can affect over 300 fruit and vegetables, including kiwifruit. A population of Oriental fruit fly would cause control costs, production losses, and some countries might stop accepting our exported produce.
KVH is working closely with Biosecurity New Zealand and other Government Industry Agreement (GIA) partners in the horticultural industry on this response to minimise risk to New Zealand growers and exporters.
KVH investigates reports of unusual symptoms to identify and manage any biosecurity risks.
05 Jan 2025
Further updates will be published here on the KVH website when significant information/changes occur. The biosecurity response to the find of a single male Oriental fruit fly in Papatoetoe is making good progress with extra traps in place, stepped up checks, legal controls introduced, special bins delivered for fruit and vegetable waste disposal, and a mobile lab in place. There were already 187 surveillance traps in the Papatoetoe/Mangere area, and by the end of today an extra 105 will be in place within a 1500m area of the original find. Yesterday legal controls were introduced to restrict the movement of fruit and vegetables around the location where the Oriental fruit fly was found to stop the spread of any others that may be out there. The response team have been delivering information to residential letterboxes about the two zones affected by restrictions and people can also find full information about what they need to do here. People will also notice biosecurity signage up in the area and special disposal bins for fruit and vegetable waste. Every household in Zone A will have a fruit and vegetable disposal bin, and in Zone B, there will be bins placed around the edge of the zone, primarily on major transport routes and further bins placed within the zone. The bins in Zone A will be cleared daily initially, then as required. At present, the restrictions will be in place for a fortnight. A mobile laboratory to examine fruit and vegetables collected from around Papatoetoe for Oriental fruit fly larvae and eggs has been set up. The mobile lab work and checking of fruit helps to provide an extra layer of certainty that there are no other fruit flies out there. To report suspected finds of fruit fly, call Biosecurity New Zealand's hotline on 0800 80 99 66. Further updates will be published here on the KVH website when significant information is available. Detection and response activities - including posters and resources in many languages - are available on the Biosecurity New Zealand website here.Oriental fruit fly and fact sheet images are on the KVH website here.Past updates from KVH are on the KVH website here.
Read more04 Jan 2025
Biosecurity New Zealand has now placed legal controls on the movement of fruit and vegetables in Papatoetoe. The move follows the detection of a single male Oriental fruit fly in a surveillance trap in the area. To date, no other flies have been found in surveillance traps. Biosecurity New Zealand staff are busy in the area today laying more traps and giving out information to households. Rules now in place prohibit moving fruit and vegetables out of a specified controlled area around where the fruit fly was found. The controlled area has two zones – A and B. Zone A is a 200m zone, with 198 properties. Zone B covers a 1500m area, with 5,470 properties. A detailed map of the controlled area and a full description of the boundaries and rules in place is available here. Zone A No whole fresh fruit and vegetables, except for leafy vegetables and soil free root vegetables, can be moved outside Zone A. This applies to all produce, regardless of whether it was bought or grown. Zone B All fruit and vegetables grown within Zone B cannot be moved out of the controlled area. These legal controls are an important precaution while we investigate whether there are any further fruit flies present in the area. Should there be any more flies out there, this will help prevent their spread out of the area. It is likely the restrictions will be in place for at least two weeks. Signs will also be put in place notifying people of the restrictions and marking the controlled area boundaries. Detail about the controlled area Zone A No fruit and vegetables (other than leafy or soil free root vegetables and cooked, processed, preserved, dried, frozen and canned fruit) can be moved from Zone A of the controlled area. Compost and green waste from gardens also cannot be moved out of this zone. Residents in Zone A are asked to avoid composting fruit and vegetables. To dispose of fruit and vegetable waste, use a sink waste disposal unit if available, or bins provided by Biosecurity New Zealand. These bins will be delivered shortly, and residents advised of their location. Zone B No fruit and vegetables grown in the Zone B can be moved out of the controlled area. You are free to move commercially purchased fruit and vegetables (e.g. fruit and vegetables brought at the supermarket) out of the area. Home grown produce waste and garden waste needs to be disposed of in Biosecurity New Zealand bins.Read the 3 January update here.Read more about Oriental fruit flies on the KVH website here – including images.Read more about the detection and response activities on the Biosecurity New Zealand website here.
Read more03 Jan 2025
Activities are under way and extra field teams are today in Papatoetoe, Auckland, after the find of a single male Oriental fruit fly in a suburban backyard surveillance trap. Biosecurity New Zealand has confirmed checks of the other 187 traps in the Papatoetoe/Mangere area did not find any fruit flies in them, however, previous experience with the successful eradication of several different types of fruit fly is that other insects might be found, so it is important we move quickly. Trapping and testing are being ramped up, with daily checks in a 200m zone from the original find and three daily testing in a second zone out to 1500m. There have been 12 incursions of different fruit fly in Auckland and Northland since 1996 and all have been successfully eradicated, thanks to the combined efforts of Biosecurity New Zealand, horticulture partners including KVH, and local communities. KVH is working closely with Biosecurity New Zealand and other horticultural Government Industry Agreement (GIA) partners on these actions to minimise the risk to kiwifruit growers. The main points for kiwifruit growers to note at this stage are: There are field teams out in the area checking properties and setting traps to attract any fruit flies that may be in the area. The aim is to find any population present and eradicate it. The Oriental fruit fly is a serious horticultural pest. It feeds on and spoils a wide range of fruit and vegetables. It is important that we understand as soon as possible if the insect is a solitary find or if there is a bigger breeding population in Papatoetoe. Until we issue further information, if you live or work in Papatoetoe, do not take any whole fresh fruit and vegetables out of your property. Home and business owners around the location will be receiving information shortly from Biosecurity New Zealand about what actions to take. More instructions, including a map of the affected zones and details of the requirements for each zone, will be issued once the initial investigation is completed. New Zealand’s biosecurity surveillance traps do a good job of locating any fruit flies in the area. However, if you find larvae in fruit from your garden (they look like small grains of rice), report it to us on 0800 665 825 or call Biosecurity New Zealand on 0800 80 99 66. This find shows the effectiveness of our surveillance trapping system – there are more than 7,800 traps set nationwide and checked regularly. These enable us to find fruit flies early and enable a faster and more effective response if finds are made. Read more about the detection and response activities on the Biosecurity New Zealand website here. Read more about Oriental fruit flies here – including images.
Read more