As mentioned in October’s Bulletin, the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is working on an Import Health Standard for Actinidia nursery stock, specifically for plants in vitro (tissue culture). This pathway has not been active since 2013 as a result of the Psa incursion.

The importation of new kiwifruit material is recognised as an important component in maintaining the competitive advantage of our industry, however the risk of introducing new biosecurity threats must be carefully managed. Tissue culture is regarded as the most promising process for producing clean material and provides the opportunity for verification measures to be included in the production process to ensure risks are managed to an acceptable level.

MPI have completed the first step of the process, a pathway risk assessment to identify biosecurity threats that could potentially enter New Zealand on this pathway from any country. This risk assessment is now being internally peer reviewed at MPI and will be circulated to KVH and other stakeholders for external review before Christmas.

A Risk Management Plan is currently being written to identify how these threats will be managed to ensure that any associated biosecurity risks are fully addressed.

Public consultation will occur with industry in 2018 and KVH will keep growers fully informed before any decisions are made on the outcome of this pathway.