Imported vehicles and machinery review: Stopping unwanted hitch hikers

Many of the pests and diseases that could seriously damage New Zealand’s natural resources and threaten our economy could find their way here by hitchhiking on vehicles and machinery. A review is currently under way to improve the way we manage this important risk pathway.

More than 176,000 used vehicles and 112,000 new vehicles were imported into New Zealand in 2005. Although these came from at least 80 countries, at least 90 percent were imported from Japan. Despite a 30 percent decrease in used vehicle imports over the past year, this pathway still carries a high volume of traffic and presents a significant biosecurity risk.

In 2005, MAF began a review of the three import health standards (IHSs) that regulate the importation of used vehicles and forestry and agricultural equipment into New Zealand. These standards provide for all vehicles to have the interior and exterior inspected, and cleaned or treated if contamination is found – either offshore or on arrival at the border. About 55 percent of imported used vehicles are currently inspected and decontaminated offshore in Japan. There is currently no inspection required for new vehicles, unless surveillance reveals they are contaminated.

High cost of incursions

What prompted this review? There have been a number of recent incursions of high profile pests such as Asian gypsy moth (AGM) and painted apple moth (PAM). Since these are hitch hiker species (not dependent on the imported commodity for their survival), there are a number of possible entry pathways including imported vehicles. While these have been successfully eradicated at a cost of some $68 million, this is not an exercise MAF wants to repeat and spraying may not always be successful.

A further $17 million has already been spent successfully managing incursions of other hitchhikers, including the white spotted tussock moth, fall webworm and red imported fire ant (excluding the current incursion near Napier). New Zealanders are equally conscious of the further costs of responding to such incursions and of the consequences of failure to eradicate damaging pests like these. Expenditure on prevention, rather than cure, is the preferred option.

If these five pests alone were to establish in New Zealand, estimated costs excluding environmental, amenity and social costs – range from $412 million to $1.32 billion over a 20-year period. While the entry pathway of these incursions cannot be identified with certainty, imported vehicles and machinery are clearly associated with these and other high-impact pests. Most IHSs are based on a risk analysis for the commodity. This has not been the case for this pathway.

Cleared vehicles and machinery were contaminated

Biosecurity New Zealand’s Risk Analysis Group began work on a risk analysis of the imported vehicles and machinery pathway in 2005. At the same time, the Biosecurity Monitoring Group (BMG) undertook ‘slippage’ surveys, using a video scope (probe) and visual inspection (including inspection of air filters – not usually part of the inspection) to assess the effectiveness of visual inspection and the current risk management regime.

The surveys revealed that more than half of vehicles and machinery previously cleared and re-inspected were found to contain one or more contaminants, ranging from dried plant material to a live lizard. Many would not have been detected without the video scope. It is unlikely that every contaminant in used vehicles and machinery can be seen, even with the video scope, so the proportion of vehicles and machines passing visual inspection with undetected contamination could be an under-estimate. In addition, a large number of surveyed vehicles had contaminants in air filters. The current visual inspection process was itself found to result in slippage of biosecurity contaminants.

The surveys found that the efficacy of the current inspection regime was similar for both on-arrival and offshore inspected vehicles. Slippage was shown to occur at both initial inspection and following decontamination. While information on contamination of new vehicles is scarce, and they have not been surveyed to the same extent as used vehicles, contamination does occur.

Wide range of organisms carried

The risk analysis covers new and used vehicles, machinery and equipment from all countries. Since this is the first time a risk analysis has been applied to an inanimate pathway, it has met with significant challenges. Not the least of these is the fact that the organisms found are nearly all hitchhikers, and inspectors never know what they might find. So far, organisms from more than 280 genera and 185 different families have been intercepted.

In order to carry out a meaningful analysis on this wide range of organisms, they have been sorted into 30 potential hazard groups. Detailed risk analyses have been undertaken for 12 of these groups. These include the high-consequence groups of moths, venomous spiders, invasive ants, snails, mosquitoes and micro-organisms associated with soil, plant and animal debris. The analysis for the moths draws on a comprehensive analysis of a group of six moth species across all entry pathways.

A wide range of risk management options are reviewed and their efficacy against the identified hazard groups assessed. While contamination by some hazards is common, the risk from high-impact, low-frequency contaminants is a concern, given the volume of vehicles and machinery imported. The risk factors for many of these hazards relates to the use and storage conditions of the vehicle/machine, factors that are difficult to profile.

Current regime does not fully mitigate risk

The initial findings from the monitoring surveys, from post-border interception records and from the draft risk analysis, indicate that the current risk management regime of 100 percent visual inspection with follow-up decontamination and treatment when contaminants are found, does not effectively mitigate the risk of entry of biosecurity contamination into New Zealand on the used vehicle pathway. Visual inspection does not appear to be the best tool for finding low frequency, hidden creatures on a complex structure such as a used machine.

Compared with imported containers, which are a relatively simple structure and don’t always move far from their point of entry, vehicles are complex and mobile. A vehicle or machine carrying a viable pest could easily take it well beyond existing pest surveillance networks. The likelihood of any high-consequence pests being detected while it is still possible to eradicate them, is consequently low.

Future shape of IHS/s not yet decided

The risk analysis and surveys comprise one of three integral parts of the IHS review. The other two parts are the actual IHS review and the implementation of any new requirements. The IHS review will incorporate the recommendations of the risk analysis into an improved, practical risk management regime. How this will eventually look is still to be decided, and will depend on an analysis of the costs, benefits and impacts of various measures, as well as further feedback from stakeholders. It is still undecided whether the three current IHSs will be rationalised into one document or how risk management of new vehicles will be integrated into this. It is expected that the implementation phase will feature extensive stakeholder involvement and sufficient lead-in time is being allocated for this.

Conscious of the impact of any changes on industry and other stakeholders, MAF began a series of stakeholder consultation workshops in July 2006 in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. These workshops provided information on the surveys, the risk analysis development, issues around the current IHSs and alternative risk management scenarios. A key aim was to get feedback from stakeholders, particularly on measures and impacts. This feedback has been very informative and will be used in scoping a cost benefit and impacts analysis and in the revision of the IHS. No decisions on any changes to the IHSs have been made at this stage.

Timeline extended

Because the project is so complex and time is needed for external peer review, the timeline has been extended through until the middle of 2007 for the issue of any changes to the IHSs. The risk analysis is likely to be available for public consultation early in 2007. The BMG survey reports will also be released at this time, and the moth risk analysis is also likely to be available.

MAF acknowledges that the extension of the timeline is frustrating to people working in the industry. Finding an acceptable balance to managing biosecurity risks and maintaining trade is never easy. With significant costs and risks at stake, however, time must be taken to work through the issues carefully and engage with those they affect. MAF encourages stakeholders to participate in this review.

• Barry Wards, Senior Advisor and Used Vehicle Review Programme Manager, Biosecurity Standards Group, Biosecurity New Zealand, barry.wards@maf.govt.nz

Page last updated: 30 April 2008