TEN YEARS OF PROACTIVE BIOSECURITY RISK MONITORING FOR VEGETABLE GROWERS Words by Lisa Wong : Market Access Solutionz
In 2010, the VR&I Board recognised the importance of monitoring pests and diseases that were having an impact overseas and could potentially enter New Zealand, affecting the vegetable industry. Monitoring biosecurity risks for the vegetable and arable sectors was introduced as a proactive approach for identifying and managing biosecurity risks that were a threat for vegetable growers. This project has been supported by the Board for ten years. Vegetable growers have reaped significant benefits from the project, including: • Supporting vegetable product groups to identify priority pests to alert growers to their risk.
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• Supporting the vegetable sector and informing its work as a GIA (Government Industry Agreement) partner. • Proactively notifying the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) of emerging pests and pathogens that threaten the industry so that import health standards can be amended with additional measures to manage import pathways. • MPI establishing the Emerging Risks System for identifying and responding to new and emerging risks of biosecurity concern. The project’s monitoring consists of two parts: One, monitoring new and emerging pests and diseases which are having an impact overseas. Two, monitoring the pests that are being intercepted at New Zealand’s border.
