Editorial - New Zealand Biosecurity Summit

Murray Sherwin

Each November for the past six years, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) has convened a summit for biosecurity stakeholders. This has become a highlight of the biosecurity calendar, and offers an important opportunity for specialists from around the country, and further afield, to get together to exchange ideas, share information, raise concerns, and hopefully spark new ideas and innovative approaches to the challenges we face.

After an intensive two days of listening, talking and thinking about biosecurity, both inside and outside of the conference centre, I am confident that we are on the right path in terms of priorities and building strong partnerships.

Biosecurity is a system with many contributing parties. We work through many key partnerships – with industry, the science community, other government agencies, port, airport and logistics companies, international agencies and the wider public.

MAF Biosecurity New Zealand (MAFBNZ) leads the system, but cannot possibly do this alone. Long-term, robust collaboration with stakeholders is critical to successfully protecting New Zealand’s borders. Prioritisation of effort is also key, together with increasing efficiency and effective communication.

Science and technology are at the heart of efficiency and effectiveness, and we will continue to seek ways to access top-quality science and to make good use of this to fill our knowledge gaps, and shape strategies for the future.

It is fair to say that biosecurity will swallow whatever resources come our way. There will always be pressure on MAFBNZ to do more, and faster – even when we all know that good decision making needs to be based on scientific fact, supported by consultation and planning, and cannot always be hurried. I think we have prioritised resources reasonably successfully in recent years, but prioritisation will become even more critical with the prospect of difficult economic times ahead of us.

Since 2003, the Biosecurity Strategy for New Zealand has been our foundation stone for making those critical decisions. But even very good strategies like this do not last forever, and it is timely to start thinking about what comes next so we have a clear map for the future to guide us on where best to focus resources.

There are some disadvantages for New Zealand in being a small and remote island nation, but there are also many advantages. One is the ease of communication – for example, as we move towards formalising relationships between our border agencies and start developing “one-stop-shops” at the border, and to greater collaboration on intelligence, planning and training in some areas.

“Good science is right at the heart of our efficiency and effectiveness ... good science fills gaps in our knowledge and helps shape our strategies.”

For our own organisation, Biosecurity New Zealand and the Quarantine Service merged to become MAFBNZ last year to achieve a more integrated approach to our work. This has been a challenging but constructive change that has strengthened our lead agency role.

For those who were unable to make this year’s Biosecurity Summit, many of the presentations are summarised in this issue of Biosecurity and others will be included in the next edition. Thanks to the many people who helped make this year’s summit such a success, and also to those who have supported and contributed to Biosecurity magazine this year. We welcome and value your engagement and your ideas.

And, finally, to all our readers, best wishes for a happy and safe Christmas, and for a prosperous year ahead.

Murray Sherwin,
Director-General,
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry

Page last updated: 23 December 2008