Cook Islands Biosecurity Quarantine Arrangement (BQAs) signed in 1999 between New Zealand’s Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) will be replaced by an Export Plan in a bid to boost agricultural export to NZ.

The Export Plan was one of the outcomes of the Enhanced Pacific Market Access Partnership (EPMAP) and Phytosanitary Certificate System Workshop that was held last month.

Ministry for Agriculture biosecurity director Ngatoko Ngatoko said the Export Plan describes the activities that will be undertaken to meet the phytosanitary requirements for the export of fresh fruit and vegetables for human consumption to New Zealand.

Ngatoko says this includes details on how measures will be implemented and the system components to support effective management and verification of activities.  

He confirmed that the signing of the Export Plan will be held later in the year once both parties agree to the activities specified under the plan.

The weeklong workshop held in April focused on ways to help export Cook Islands products to New Zealand and other overseas markets.

Some recommendations that were made included:

• MPI Phytosanitary requirements and exporting country’s expectations to the actual activities undertaken to meet Import Health Standards (IHS) requirements.
• Give growers and exporters a clearer idea of what is expected of them for product to be compliant for NZ.
• Help exporting country National Plant Organisation (NPPO) understand what they are basing their assurances on.
• Help provide a framework for auditing for both MPI and the exporting country.
• Identify the areas of the exporting system. In doing this, it will enhance and improve the proposed plan to rectify the issues.
• Phytosanitary Capacity Evaluation (PCE) and the market research report which will be discussed and endorsed by the Cook Islands.
• Must also enhance the spirit of partnership and closer public/private collaboration because they make up the supply chain.
• Fruit Fly host crops such as papaya, mangoes, etc will undergo treatment of High Temperature Forced Air (HTFA) prior export.  

Ngatoko explained Phytosanitary Capacity Evaluation (PCE) is a process that assesses the capacity and capability of a National Plant Protection Organisation (NPPO) to fulfil the required functions identified in the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC).

“The aim of this project is to conduct a PCE and compare the findings with the first PCE review conducted in 2008. The review will identify capacity gaps and opportunities, and prepare a plan to address these gaps where possible.”

Ngatoko said this included the biosecurity system of border protection (preventing new pests arriving in a country), in-country pest management (managing pests present in a country), and export trade (preventing pests moving in international trade).

A follow up workshop will be held from August 14 to 18 and Pa Enua growers are expected to be involved.