New Zealand is free from foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and we have never had a case here.

Although it is very unlikely FMD will arrive in New Zealand – as we have strong border measures to keep it out – the threat is taken very seriously, and defences across all layers of the biosecurity system have been ramped up following the recent outbreak in Indonesia.

KVH attended the most recent meeting of the Plant Biosecurity Council which included an update on readiness planning for FMD, in the unlikely event of an outbreak here and eradicating the disease. See slides from the presentation here.

There was also a summary of FMD border measures in place on the vessel, passenger, mail, freight, cargo and cruise pathways in the latest Border Space newsletter which provide great detail and demonstrate our system can act quickly and decisively. You can read the article here.