Biosecurity New Zealand has officially lifted movement controls on fruit and vegetables in the North Shore suburb of Birkdale, following no further detections of the Oriental fruit fly since a single male was found in a surveillance trap in February.
"This is great news for New Zealand as a whole, and in particular for the horticulture industry, which would have been severely impacted by the establishment of a fruit fly population here," said a spokesperson from Biosecurity New Zealand.
Mr. Hoggard expressed gratitude to the local community and industry partners for their cooperation during the biosecurity response.
"The residents of these areas have shown terrific community spirit. These communities really stepped up, along with the strong backing of the horticultural sector," he said.
"Biosecurity New Zealand also put in an immense effort, with two separate fruit fly responses in Auckland this year. I commend them for their hard work over the last three months.
"Pests and diseases don't take a break, and that's why our biosecurity system doesn't sleep. We have successfully stopped this fly from establishing a population in New Zealand many times before, and we should pat ourselves on the back that we've been successful once more. I sincerely hope Murphy's Law doesn't kick in here."
Biosecurity New Zealand's national fruit fly surveillance programme remains active, including a network of traps within the area previously under restrictions to monitor for any future incursions.
Horticulture New Zealand (HortNZ) welcomes the decision to lift controls on the movement of fruit and vegetables in an Auckland suburb after no further evidence of the Oriental fruit fly was found in the area.
A single male Oriental fruit fly was detected in a suburban backyard in Birkdale on the North Shore in February as a result of routine surveillance.
HortNZ chief executive Kate Scott said the organisation strongly supported the Biosecurity New Zealand response in Birkdale and thanked residents and businesses in the affected area for their support of movement controls.
"With no further Oriental fruit flies identified through the ongoing surveillance, we can be confident this was an isolated incident," said Scott.
"We fully support the increased trapping, inspection efforts, and the legal restrictions on moving fruit and vegetables out of the affected area that were undertaken as part of Biosecurity New Zealand's response.
"Protecting New Zealand's horticulture sector from biosecurity threats like the fruit fly is critical to our economy and our reputation for producing high-quality fruit and vegetables."
For more information:
Hon Andrew Hoggard
New Zealand Government
Email: A.Hoggard@ministers.govt.nz
www.beehive.govt.nz
HortNZ
Tel: +64 04 472 3795
Email: info@hortnz.co.nz
www.hortnz.co.nz