Biosecurity NZ targets dirty ship containers

Dirty shipping containers are under the spotlight as a major risk to New Zealand's biosecurity.

The Biosecurity Ministerial Advisory Committee (BMAC) wants the Government to clamp down on the threats posed by unclean containers crossing the border, says chairman Mick Clout.

On the first day of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) Biosecurity New Zealand summit in Christchurch, Clout, professor of conservation ecology at Auckland University, said the committee was concerned at the impact dirty containers could have on the economy and the environment, despite some significant progress.

"This is a very important issue. We do need further improvements still."

Port companies should be responsible for ensuring the exteriors of incoming containers were clean when leaving the port.

"Material can fall off when en route, and soil can contain uninvited organisms."

High-risk containers needed to be dealt with by MAF Biosecurity New Zealand on site, he said.

Progress had been made on new standards for transitional, or storage, facilities for containers, and the quality of information from importers and shipping companies had improved.

Lyttelton Port Company chief executive Peter Davie said there was whole-hearted support for keeping undesirable organisms out of New Zealand, but MAF had the statutory responsibility for ensuring containers were clean enough to cross the border.

Lyttelton handles about 200,000 20-foot equivalent containers a year and has space for nearly 4000 at any one time.

"All of us involved in the transport chain want to make sure there aren't things introduced to New Zealand. We are working together on that.

"We do have a look at the state of containers when they are coming off the ships, particularly on the outside. If we find they have been parked in dirty areas, we identify that to MAF.

"It always depends a lot on where the containers are coming from. Some come from countries where they are always on hard-stand, but others don't."

Containers from less-developed nations had often been stored directly on the ground rather than on concrete pads, Davie said.

Biosecurity Minister Jim Anderton said there was now tighter security around the 500,000 shipping containers that arrived each year, "but there's still room for improvement".

"One of the steps the committee is keen on is to look at containers being dealt with before they leave the country of origin. If they're coming from the Middle East or Asia, they are cleaned up and treated before they arrive.

"It'd be idle to think we've got everything nailed because it is such a big job. In New Zealand we have a very tight biosecurity system by world standards. But a lot of things we get come by sea and the wind, and some are microscopic. We have thousands of dreaded lurgies turning up here."

- © Fairfax NZ News