Consultation on Actinidia Import Health Standard

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has been 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 is in the process of completing a pathway risk assessment to identify biosecurity threats that could potentially enter New Zealand on this pathway from any country and a Risk Management Plan has been written to identify how these threats will be managed to ensure that any associated biosecurity risks are fully addressed.

Public consultation is due to start very shortly – lookout for more details on the KVH website over the next few days about how you can have your say.

We will be making a submission on behalf of the industry and as part of that we’re engaging with the science community to ensure we have specific technical advice available on the risks of what is being proposed.

KVH will keep growers fully informed before any decisions are made on the outcome of this pathway.