Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Although didymo prefers a river environment with clear water flowing over stable substrate at depths sufficient for light penetration to drive photosynthesis, blooms have been found in South Island Lakes. Lake Wakatipu, for example, contains visible didymo on some parts of the lake shore.
In July 2000, the EU Scientific Steering Committee (EU SSC) published the results of a 'Geographical BSE-Risk Assessment' of 24 countries including New Zealand which was classified in Category 1, the lowest risk category (lowest risk being the highest achievable category) along with Australia, Norway, Paraguay, Argentina, and Chile. The assessment rated the 'likelihood' that live cattle could be clinically or pre-clinically infected with the BSE agent. The EU SSC again assessed New Zealand's Geographical BSE risk in 2002 the report published in November 2002 again classified NZ as Category 1.
Under the EU SSC assessment the US and Canada are Category 2, i.e. "unlikely but not excluded." A case of BSE has subsequently been detected in Canada in May 2003.
Didymo is hard to detect in its microscopic form, so it is invisible in some waterways. People need to treat all waterways as if they might have didymo. People need to Check, Clean, Dry everytime they use a waterway.
Generally documents are made available for consultation for 30 working days after which they are finalised following consideration of submissions made during that time. Once finalised, they are posted to other relevant areas in this website with the review of submissions.
If the Quarantine Declaration is not compliant (see Question 1), or if a question of the Quarantine Declaration has been answered "don’t know" or left blank, you should follow the steps in Question 4 (import entry) or 5 (ECI report) for non-compliant Quarantine Declarations.
No. Assistance dogs must comply with all of the testing and treatment requirements for dogs and cats from the country of origin but may not have to complete post arrival quarantine:
http://www.biosecurity.govt.nz/imports/animals/standards/dogbliic.all.htm 
Yes. The intention of this section is that potatoes not cleared for Taiwan are not packed at the same time as those that are cleared for Taiwan. The wording of this section has been changed.
In the wake of the finds, MAFBNZ traced all the flocks that had contributed to the original consignment of research sheep sent to the UK. Historical samples from these flocks were examined, and sheep from two of the larger flocks that contained higher numbers of older sheep were tested for atypical scrapie. No evidence of atypical scrapie was found.
Yes. If you have untreated wood packaging in your consignment after 1 July 2006 you will have to treat, reship or destroy it. The costs of this will be borne by the importer.
Technically, a ban comes into effect when the plant is determined to be an unwanted organism by the Chief Technical Officer but regional councils do not enforce the ban for the first six months, to ensure that all outlets are aware the plant is banned.