Online shopping and the growing biosecurity threat

Last weekend The Sunday Star Times covered a story about the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) recently prosecuting a Christchurch botanist for illegally importing moss balls through online store AliExpress – the same website that has been known to offer kiwifruit seed for sale.

KVH is fully supportive of the action taken by MPI, not only because there could have been serious biosecurity impacts resulting from the illegal import, but also because it demonstrates that the system is working and online sites like this one are being scanned by officials.

An article in the last KVH Bulletin noted our concern around seeds being bought online for import into New Zealand because of the risk of introducing a plant disease, and mentioned that MPI enforcement staff are fully aware of this particular site. Read more about the strict rules in place for kiwifruit seed imports on the KVH website.