We’ve had an excellent response to our calls for vigilance when handling imported fruit. On February 3, the KVH team received a call from an importer who suspected White Peach Scale on some Italian fruit. We worked with Plant and Food Research to verify that it was White Peach Scale – a pest which is currently not present in NZ - all scale were dead. The pallet of fruit in question had been fumigated prior to Christmas. MPI fumigated fewer lines of Italian kiwifruit this year than last; a reflection on the lower incidence of White Peach Scale identified at the border this year. It is gratifying to see industry vigilance in identifying and reporting this pest and that the border controls in place are offering effective protection to the industry. If you need a reminder on how to handle sightings of what you suspect might be damaging pests on imported fruit, have a look at our biosecurity poster.