Last week the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) announced the successful eradication of the Queensland Fruit Fly from Auckland and officially closed out the response operation and lifted the restrictions on fruit and vegetable movements.

Over the last 10 months a huge amount of effort and resources has gone into the operation to assure MPI and our offshore markets that New Zealand is once again fruit-fly free.

• 280,500 kg fruit was collected from the Controlled Area
• 60,000 kg of waste was collected during the Cricket World Cup
• 6,706 samples of fruit were examined for larvae
• 25 organisations provided people resources
• 6,766 houses located within the Controlled Area
• 1,200 individual people involved
• 2,300 accommodation nights
• 8,700 properties visited
• 45,129 litres of bait used
• Cost to date $13.6M
• Restrictions on 29 high risk retailers

The most affected households were located in the middle of the Controlled Area and have been extremely supportive during the response. Next week, KVH together with Pipfruit NZ and Horticulture NZ will visit the area and give a small token of thanks on behalf of NZ’s fruit and vegetable growers.