Fiji says NZ breaching rules over bean exports

Transcript

The director of Fiji's Biosecurity Authority has accused New Zealand authorities of breaching international conventions by suspending imports of Fijian long beans.

Xavier Riyaz Khan says New Zealand's Ministry of Primary Industries has given no explanation for its decision to suspend imports last week after intercepting the insect Thrips palmi.

While conceding thrips palmi is a serious pest, he says his authorities thoroughly inspect all shipments before export, and Fiji isn't responsible for any larvae that develops during transit.

Mr Riyaz Khan told Jamie Tahana that New Zealand has handled the case unfairly, and suspending bean imports will severely affect bean farmers.

XAVIER RIYAZ KHAN: Thrips palmi is a pest of New Zealand which is invasive to New Zealand we total understand and acknowledge that. But on the same note under the World Trade Organisations protection standards, Thrips palmi is a pest which cannot be identified in pupa lava or eggs stage when they burrow inside the fruit and there is no standards available which can basically identify the Thrips palmi but for adult it can be only identified by very experienced personnel. So with the bio-security of Fiji we have enforced 100 percent inspection of all commodities out to New Zealand. So with our inspections we are very confident that all Thrips palmi adult stage has been eliminated. But we are not responsible for any Thrips palmi which has basically hatched on the way from pupa to adult while transiting from Fiji to New Zealand.

JAMIE TAHANA: What led to this did NZMPI find Thrips Palmi in a shipment  that kind of grew from a larvae?

XRK: There has been no notification given on that aspect. The only notification given by NZMPI is that three consignments or three exporters there is interceptions and because of that we are suspending all trade from the twenty first of October. So on twentieth of October we have received notification and twenty first we are suspending trade. So we are pretty concerned how this has actually been handled and we have no idea how many Thrips palmi were actually intercepted in the consignment or what is the actual status of it.

JT: So you don't even really know if they did find a Thrips palmi?

XRK: Yes we don't even know because there is no notification been forwarded yet on the number of Thrips palmi or the actual status.

JT: What international standard are you saying that has been breached here?

XRK: Under the World Trade Organisation which Fiji is also a member and under the umbrella body International Plant Protection Convention which is IPPC which is a standard supporting authority for all plants tendered. So under that ISB number 13 and ISB number 27 has been breached and we totally and we also trade with other partners and we don't know ever have any experience or any incident as such where the pathways are suspended. We also have a lot of non-compliance in New Zealand  consignments in the Fijian border but under the normal trade agreements we basically apply phyto-sanitary treatments  and we accept consignments. But we hardly re-ship or destroy but we hardly suspend pathways. So what has transpired from this and basically the whole process has we are concerned.

JT: If New Zealand were to deal with this in the legitimate way according to the agreements what would they have done?

XRK: They should have given us time to rectify the issue before they could have suspended the whole pathway.

JT: You say you wrote to MPI on the 20th of October and you haven't heard anything from the New Zealand government since?

XRK: Yes we haven't had any feedback because we corresponded on the 20th when we received the correspondence but  we haven't received any notification from New Zealand until to date.