12. SHANE ARDERN (National—Taranaki-King Country) Link to this
to the Minister for Biosecurity
Is he satisfied with current border control checks on meat imports, and was there a risk that foot-and-mouth disease could have been imported with the recent raw pork discovery?
Hon JIM ANDERTON (Minister for Biosecurity) Link to this
Yes, I am satisfied, although not complacent, of course. New Zealand is internationally recognised as having some of the toughest border controls in the world. However, there is always a risk that mislabelled or smuggled product will pass through our borders, so the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, as a second line of defence, also checks retail outlets for prohibited meat products. One of those inspections uncovered the raw Korean pork. I understand that Korea is considered foot-and-mouth disease - free, following successful eradication of an outbreak a few years ago, so the risks associated with the raw pork are considered negligible. Nevertheless, as a precaution, the raw pork found has been destroyed, outlets are being reminded of their obligations not to feed raw pork to animals, and investigations are under way to see whether those responsible can be prosecuted and whether changes are needed in Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry systems.
Is the Minister satisfied that it took nearly a month to alert the public to the raw minced pork from Korea, a country that has had repeated outbreaks of foot-and-mouth; that the pork had slipped through the border controls between the months of August and December 2005; and what is he going to do about it?
Any mistake made in biosecurity and any delay in discovering any mistake is, of course, significant and serious. As I said, an investigation is now under way and a recommendation will be made on whether to pursue a prosecution once evidence-gathering is completed. Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry security systems will also be part of that investigation.
Dave HereoraThe Government has substantially increased funding for prevention and border-related services over the 5 to 6 years that we have been responsible for that service. Funding has increased by 89 percent since this coalition became the Government in 1999-2000. It is also continuing to invest in further second lines of defence, for example, in vaccines. Last week New Zealand joined a small group of developed countries to have arrangements in place to provide, in commercial quantities, a vaccine for foot-and-mouth disease should it be required, following Government funding of this initiative.
Is this the same Hon Jim Anderton who said in his biosecurity speech on 9 December 2005: “We need to see the public as the front line in our defence.”, when the public were kept in the dark on this issue of a biosecurity breach for up to a month?
No attempt was made, as far as I am aware, to hide any of this information. If the member knew of any of this information, which had not been released to the public, he would, of course, have reported that immediately, because not to do so would be irresponsible in the extreme.
Does this Minister agree with Treasury reports that state that a foot-and-mouth outbreak would slash $12 billion from our economy and turn New Zealand into a Third World economy?
Of course an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease would be serious for this country, but the member should not talk up that matter unless he has in mind doing the very act of sabotage that foot-and-mouth disease would do itself.
What changes will take place in our container surveillance and other border control systems to ensure that pallet loads of raw, illegal pork will not slip through our borders and be sold in grocery stores in the future?
Pallet loads of raw pork—or raw anything else—are not allowed in New Zealand; it is illegal. We have significant border controls to prevent it. But as I know from all kinds of statements the member makes, he believes that there is a possibility of excluding every possibility of an incursion into this country, no matter where it comes from—on the air, in the sea, in containers, through tourism—and to believe that, is the most foolish kind of presumption that I, or anyone else I know in the biosecurity industry, have ever heard.