Border controls have been stepped up and remain in place following the Oriental fruit fly responses in Auckland.

At the border, Biosecurity New Zealand is continuing to target air passengers with information about Oriental fruit fly, particularly those arriving on flights from Asia, where the pest is established. New digital signage was recently introduced at Auckland Airport, asking passengers to dispose of fruit that could potentially host the pest.

Airport seizures over the past six months have been reviewed to determine which fruit and other food items travellers are most likely to bring into New Zealand. It is no surprise that common fruits such as apples, bananas, and jackfruit appear in the top five. Airport messaging will target this list, and Biosecurity New Zealand will monitor its impact on passenger behaviour by tallying what is found in amnesty bins.

As an additional verification check, detector dog teams have been reintroduced to sniff passengers after they have been through x-ray screening during peak arrival periods. Especially trained to find fruit fly host materials, detector dogs will also screen mishandled baggage that arrives separately from its owner.