Biosecurity in New Zealand

Biosecurity in New Zealand guards against threats to agriculture and biodiversity, with strict border control measures being taken to prevent unwanted organisms from entering the country.

Passengers must sign a declaration form stating that they do not have anything that constitutes a biosecurity risk to New Zealand and can be fined for failing to do so.

Visitors to New Zealand are most commonly fined for bringing fishing gear, seeds, fruits, bamboo and wooden products at the border.

At border control locations such as airports, beagles are used for detecting material that constitutes a biosecurity risk because they are relatively small and less intimidating for people who are uncomfortable around dogs, easy to care for, intelligent and work well for rewards.

For example, Didymo (Didymosphenia geminata), an invasive algae that was discovered in New Zealand in 2004, has been the subject of a nationwide campaign to prevent its spread.

On 21 July 2017 the Ministry for Primary Industries[7] was informed that some cattle near Oamaru in the South Island were Mycoplasma bovis positive.

[10] However, subsequently, some 26,000 cattle were culled and in May 2018 the minister, Damien O'Connor, announced that the government had decided (after consultation with farmers) that elimination of the disease was proposed.

[15] In August 2018, a Southland farmer who was traced as the original source for the outbreak was charged under the Biosecurity Act regarding importation of some farm machinery.