Biosecurity - Border Control

Border Control

New Zealand's quarantine and border control systems are our first line of defence against alien invaders. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry is responsible for protecting our borders from invasive species that could enter the country. Increased trade and international travel have put huge strain on our border control, and the list of 'interceptions' and 'incursions' of invasive species is enough to alarm anyone. ('Interceptions' are those found during border checks, and 'Incursions' are those discovered after border clearance has been given).

In the last year interceptions and incursions have included snakes, scorpions, Asian tiger mosquito, yellow fever mosquito, cane toads, varroa bee mite, black widow spiders, jumping redback spiders.

Forest and Bird lobbies the government for improved standards of border control (for example requiring used vehicles to be inspected and decontaminated before they are shipped to New Zealand). We also campaign for fast and effective responses to new incursions of unwanted species (for example the establishment of a dedicated incursion response fund).

In 2000, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment (PCE) carried out a comprehensive review of New Zealand Biosecurity. Their report is available from the PCE website www.pce.govt.nz (under 'new organisms' in the reports section).

This page was updated on 15 April, 2005