Biosecurity New Zealand deputy director-general Penny Nelson told delegates at this year’s Tauranga Moana biosecurity symposium that improving capacity to bring germplasm into NZ was one of those key areas.
“We will be very focused on looking at the import health standards around germplasm. We are seeking to take a more strategic approach to the importation of material,” she said.
The move will be welcomed by plant breeders seeking out new varieties to meet either changing consumer demands, or to develop more climatically robust and productive varieties.
“At present, our facilities for germplasm importation are booked up for the next four years. That is a long time to have to wait for anyone seeking to develop plants to grow here in New Zealand,” she said.
She says funds have been secured to build some interim facilities in Auckland to house additional material, and these were to be up and running next year.
The deputy director says Biosecurity NZ was also looking to ramp up NZ’s lab testing facilities in the wake of covid-19’s outbreak and the M bovis eradication decision.
“We have learnt how critical the lab services we provide are. We are taking a real close look at lab capability and how we grow that for the future,” he said.
She says the ability to manage two major disease outbreaks at the same time was critical, and not an unreasonable scenario given past experiences of disease incursions.
Also high on the priority list was the need to review the Biosecurity Act, now 27 years old.
“There are factors like climate change and increased demand for good biosecurity standards that mean it is a good time to review the Act,” she said.
“We see greater collaboration between groups in things like M bovis control and we need an Act capable of enabling that sort of partnering.”
She also outlined some important lessons learnt from the covid crisis that could be kept in mind for future incursions.
One was the importance of trying to limit damage of a response, across economic, social and environmental areas, rather than singular focus on removing the disease without considering these.
“The importance of communication with your trading partners was also important. If you communicate with them frequently they will trust you, and it will keep your exports flowing,” she said.
Aligning with key decision-makers among industry groups and companies was also important, a move MPI made a point of early on in the outbreak.
The crisis had also gifted policy makers with a “team of five million” who now understand biosecurity, and the terms used like quarantine, elimination and contact-tracing.
“This is a huge opportunity through Ko Tatou (this is us) to build on that five million for biosecurity,” she said.
The M bovis response has also seasoned the agricultural sector to biosecurity’s value, and like the general population’s experience with covid there was the opportunity to make it easier for farmers to know what “good” looks like when defining biosecurity standards.
She says the value of the Tauranga Moana Biosecurity Capital (TMBC) programme helped communities establish those standards, and a template of the initiative was due to be put in place at the top of the South Island soon.
