PMAC fruit fly preparedness project

As advised in a previous Bulletin, KVH and Zespri are members of the Plant Market Access Council (PMAC) fruit fly preparedness project. This project aims to pre-emptively agree market access conditions with key markets in the event of an incursion of a significant fruit fly species in New Zealand and minimise market access impacts. Below is an update on the project.

• A negotiating protocol for key trading partners has been developed which demonstrates how NZ will be able to export fruit fly-free product during a fruit fly incursion and/or if fruit fly were to establish here.
• A scientific based model has been developed for inclusion in the protocol. The model calculates the key triggers that determine the status of the response by taking into account things like location – i.e. is the location rural or urban.

Negotiations with trading partners will begin once the protocol and the model are finalised and are likely to be a lengthy process. While some negotiations may take less than a year, it is possible that many of them will take longer. Ironically, it’s believed the response to the QFF in Grey Lynn this year may reduce the length of some of these negotiations. In some instances, information in the protocol was used during this recent response to liaise with key officials in some markets.

The negotiation process will be carried out in three stages based on the potential zones identified in an incursion response. Three different categories for negotiation have been identified:

• Outside the designated control zone where export should be able to continue without any additional controls (phase 1)
• Outside the controlled zone but passing through it to be exported and so requiring specific protection (phase 2)
• Within the controlled zone requiring treatments to control any fruit fly (phase 3)

Once pre-emptive agreements are in place with key trading partners, these agreements should minimise market access impacts during a fruit fly response or incursion.

Barry O’Neil, KVH Chief Executive