Controls on the movement of fruit and vegetables in the Auckland suburb of Mt Roskill have been lifted with no further evidence of Queensland fruit fly found in the area.

The decision to end the operation follows six weeks of intensive fruit fly trapping and the inspection of more than 230 kilograms of fruit.

Biosecurity New Zealand and response partners, including KVH on behalf of the kiwifruit industry, thank residents and businesses in the affected area for their support. Every person who has kept an eye out for fruit flies, complied with movement controls, and safely disposed of their fruit waste, has played an important role in protecting our horticultural sector.

With no further detections, the Controlled Area Notice restrictions can be lifted, and response operations closed.

Biosecurity wheelie bins that have dotted the neighbourhood will be removed and road signs will be dismantled.

While response operations are ending, routine nationwide surveillance continues, with a system of nearly 8,000 fruit fly traps spread across the country. More than 4,600 of these are in the Auckland area. The surveillance traps target three exotic fruit fly species of concern: the Queensland fruit fly, Mediterranean fruit fly and Oriental fruit fly. This successful response is a great example of how surveillance traps help alert us to the presence of unwelcome pests and enable us to stamp them out quickly.

Biosecurity New Zealand staff will be out in the community distributing flyers about the response closure and personally thanking residents and business owners for their contribution to the effort.

KVH thanks APAC and Punchbowl for their support and contribution to field operations during responses in the Auckland area. .

Key figures:

• More than 9,800 individual visits were made to check the 358 fruit fly traps in the Mt Roskill area throughout the response.
• Over 364 biosecurity bins were distributed in the community to collect produce waste for safe disposal.
• More than 230 kilos of were fruit collected and examined for any signs of fruit fly eggs or larvae.