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.