Read: Fruit growers take MPI to court.
Paul Paynter from The Yummy Fruit Company (part of Johnny Appleseed Holdings Ltd) says, “We now know that MPI failed to conduct the required annual compliance audits on the CPCNW facility between 2010 and 2018.
“MPI has a duty to conduct these annual desktop audits, as well as five-yearly facility audits, as part of its biosecurity responsibilities. The five-yearly audit was due to be conducted in mid-2015 and was not undertaken until March 2018, and even then it was not properly completed.
“MPI has let us all down. The orchardists and nurserymen are not at fault here.
“We have growers across the country pulling out innovative new varieties of apples, apricots, peaches, plums, nectarines, and cherries and incinerating them because MPI has not done its job properly.”
Some of the plants have been in NZ for up to six years. They have been tested thoroughly and released from post entry quarantine by MPI. There is no evidence of pest or disease and no sign that these plants pose a biosecurity risk.
“If we believed there to be a risk of pest or disease, we would not be taking this legal action. We are all committed to maintaining the biosecurity of this industry; it is our livelihood and our future.”
