KVH is pleased the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is undertaking a serious security crackdown on transitional facilities. The move aims to stop undeclared risk goods and contaminants from escaping or being wrongly released or stolen.

MPI will be cancelling approval for any transitional facility that does not meet security requirements by September 2018 (this date allows ample time for existing facilities to come up to scratch), and applications from new facilities will not be approved if they do not meet the right measures. For example, MPI must see locks on containers, cones and signage to keep unauthorised people away during unloading, and fences with lockable gates or equivalent security systems.

Transitional facilities are an important part of New Zealand’s border. They hold uncleared risk goods (including fruit and other food products, things made from wood or plant material, sea containers, used machinery or vehicles) for inspection, secure storage or treatment until they receive biosecurity clearance or are re-shipped or destroyed.

These facilities are a pathway for many of the kiwifruit industry’s most unwanted pests, especially hitchhiker pests like the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB).

Many transitional facilities are located on and around the Port of Tauranga and both KVH and local MPI officers are regularly engaging with site staff - most recently during Biosecurity Week - to make sure they are correctly clearing all goods, know what to look for, and how to report anything unusual. This work is a priority for KVH.