One of the farmers who has been campaigning for tighter controls on palm kernel stock feed imports is applauding the Government's latest move in that direction.
The Ministry for Primary Industries is proposing compulsory screening of all palm kernel expeller, or PKE, imported into New Zealand.
PKE, the waste residue from palm oil pressing, is brought in mainly from Malaysia and Indonesia as supplementary stock feed for dairy cattle.
The ministry has been taking a closer look at the trade after two New Zealand farmers, David Clark and Colin MacKinnon, blew the whistle on the poor standard of biosecurity they found at some Malaysian processing sites.
Currently about 70% of PKE is screened when it is landed here. Other conditions include heat treatment and fumigation.
The ministry's latest proposal means all of it will have to go through the screening process.
It is also increasing record keeping and traceability requirements.
Mr Clark says the proposed changes will address most of the concerns he and Mr MacKinnon raised.
He says one the key recommendations of their report to the ministry was that PKE should be screened in New Zealand prior to it being released at the border.
Mr Clark says it is not clear from the ministry's recommendations whether screenings would be done pre- or post border. Compulsory screening would be very good to provide another level of security around the product coming into New Zealand, he says.
"One of the concerns we raised after our trip to Malaysia was that there were some opportunities for PKE to be coming from plants that weren't authorised and also manufacturer's certificates to be filled out by people other than the manufacturer."
Mr Clark says following the Ministry for Primary Industries visits to Malaysia in May, there were some changes made there as well.
