MPI defends cost of new biosecurity lab
The head of the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) biosecurity operation, Stuart Anderson, has defended the cost and the need for a Plant Healht and Environment Laboratory (PHEL) being built in Auckland.
Spokesman Roger Smith says the stink bug is an agricultural pest which could seriously threaten New Zealand’s horticultural sector including citrus, pipfruit, stonefruit, berries and grapes, asparagus, soybeans, maize and roses.
February-March is when NZ is at risk of the bug arriving, and MPI staff are on high alert, Smith says. Warning signs are posted at petrol stations around Tauranga and other ports where the bug could enter.
“The biggest threat is that the bug could come out of the northern hemisphere in commercial cargo so we monitor and check cargo from countries where the bug is living, such as Bulgaria and Italy,” Smith told Rural News.
“The chances are that the bug could crawl into a container and hibernate and eventually make its way to our shores. We provide extra examination and research and more people to examine those containers because we don’t want the marmorated stink bug here.”
MPI pays close attention to the seasons and when biosecurity risk insects or diseases may be ready to hitch a ride to NZ.
“The biosecurity system we run at the front line is that we look at the threats from each country around the world by seasons. Asian gypsy moth is a prime example. They only fly at a certain time of the year in Japan and Russia, so we monitor them during their winter season when those moths are flying,” Smith explains.
“Part of our ongoing research is to identify the cycles of these pests and threats, where they are geographically and time wise, so then we can get our staff to keep an eye on them.”
Smith likes to think NZers understand the importance of the country’s biosecurity laws, but with more urbanisation of the population he’s not sure this is happening to the extent he’d like.
