Honey Import Health Standard issued
11 July 2006
Biosecurity New Zealand (BNZ), part of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF), today issued a new import health standard for honey and related bee products from Australia.
The new import health standard allows for:
Heat treatment as a risk management measure for European Foulbrood and Nosema ceranae for all products from areas where these diseases are likely to be present
Inspection or heat treatment or specified testing for all bee products as risk management measures for American Foulbrood
Alternatively, irradiation can be used as a risk management measure for American Foulbrood, European Foulbrood and Nosema ceranae for bee products other than honey
Extra heating during packaging for bulk honey from states with small hive beetle.
This follows a complex process that started in 2001. At the end of 2004 BNZ completed a risk analysis of imported honey and bee products that followed two rounds of public consultation and expert peer review. Consultation on the draft import health standard (IHS) began in December 2005.
BNZ Director Pre-Clearance Debbie Pearson said Australia had been requesting access for its honey bee products for many years. But the major obstacle had been the threat of European Foulbrood, a bacterial disease of bees, which is present in many honey-exporting countries.
“The comprehensive risk analysis undertaken by Biosecurity New Zealand concluded that honey could be imported from countries where European Foulbrood is present, provided it was subject to heat treatment giving a million-fold reduction in bacteria. This means that 99.9999 percent of the bacteria will have been killed,” Ms Pearson said.
“The risk analysis was peer-reviewed by bee disease experts, with international and New Zealand-based reviewers considering key parts of the document. New Zealand has a reputation for being extremely rigorous when making decisions on biosecurity, and I am confident that BNZ has considered the best scientific information available.”
Ms Pearson said the conditions of the issued IHS were largely in line with the draft standard released for consultation in 2005.
“Biosecurity New Zealand considers Western Australia to be free of European Foulbrood and Nosema ceranae because of its physical isolation and its strict biosecurity controls. This means that untreated bee products can be imported from that state.”
Ms Pearson said the risk mitigation measures for honey were consistent with measures applied to the importation of other products that could affect New Zealand’s other primary industries, such as dairy and meat.
“So when deciding on whether to allow the import of a good, Biosecurity New Zealand must consider the importance of international trade for New Zealand alongside the protection of human, animal and plant health, taking into account economic, environmental, social and cultural values.”
Media contact: Keiran Bleach, Senior Communications Adviser, Biosecurity New Zealand, 027 435 9662.