Suspension of unused or out-of-date nursery stock import pathways and reformat of nursery stock import health standard

We are seeking your feedback on the usability of the reformatted import health standard.

• Will you be able to find requirements for a commodity more easily than in the existing standard?
• Did you encounter any new issues using the proposed reformatted standard?

The proposed reformat is not intended to change any requirements in the standard. However, when you read the reformatted standard, you may have questions or concerns that also apply to the current standard. We want to hear about these concerns to guide our future prioritisation process. However, we will not address them as part of this proposed amendment.

Before finalising our decision, we would like to hear from you about:

• the impacts this proposal may have on you
• any plant genera or species proposed for suspension that you have a viable and valid interest in importing
• the demand for – and opportunities for New Zealand in – plant species that are on the proposed suspension list, and that you are concerned about
• any relevant information we may have missed while developing this proposal.

We will assess the information you provide, and we may need to seek further clarification from you. We will take this information, and any details relating to pest threats that would need to be addressed, into account during our decision-making. We expect that much of your information will be able to guide our prioritisation processes in the future.

We are proposing to reformat the import health standard Importation of Nursery Stock to make it more user-friendly and align it with modern standards. This involves:

• standardising the language used across the document (including updating the name of the import health standard to Plants for Planting)
• standardising the order of information and requirements for all species and commodity types
• correcting errors and omissions
• providing links and summary tables to aid navigation and reduce how many places a reader needs to look to understand the requirements for a particular import.

The consultation documents include a shortened sample of the reformatted standard for you to assess. This sample includes the introductory and general sections of the standard in full, but only includes, as an example, a small number of the schedules of specific entry requirements.

Sample of the reformatted import health standard renamed Plants for Planting [PDF, 2.3 MB]

We are proposing to suspend unused and or out-of-date pathways in the import health standard Importation of Nursery Stock for several reasons. Our goal in doing this is to focus our efforts on the plants for planting pathways that are important to the sector, and which will have positive impacts and benefits to New Zealand.

• 468 of the 1925 genera covered by the standard have been imported in the past 11 years.
• The rest of the genera haven’t been imported in the past 11 years, and in most cases, haven't been imported for over 25 years.
• Even though the pathways haven’t been used, our processes for assessing emerging pest threats still need to take these pathways into account, using resource that could be better used elsewhere.
• Many of the pathways we intend to suspend would need a significant review and require updating due to pest threats that have to date remained unaddressed.
• We want to be transparent about the pathways that are up to date, so that importers can invest in their importing projects with confidence.

One of the consultation documents is a complete list of genera eligible for import under the nursery stock standard with details on how the proposed changes will affect them.

Complete list of genera eligible for import under the standard with detail on how the proposed change will affect them [XLSX, 55 KB]

We expect that some pathways proposed for suspension will be of interest to you, or that you may have been working on plans to import. We need your guidance about those. We want to know which pathways you have an interest in and intend to use to help us with our decision-making and potential priorities for future review.

Pathway suspension is not a permanent situation. Pathways can be re-opened after biosecurity risk is assessed and we can ensure the standard is effective at managing risks.

The feedback we receive, especially about pathways you intend to use, will help shape our standard maintenance and development programme for the future.

After suspension, Biosecurity New Zealand will be able to focus effort on reviewing pathways that are a priority. There are 3 expected ways forward.

1. Some pathways will be reviewed and reopened.
2. Some pathways will remain suspended while reviews are upcoming.
3. After consultation at a later date, some pathways will be revoked if there is no interest or priority to review them.

Whether pathways are suspended or revoked the plants could be imported again after a review and consultation on new import requirements. Plants will remain listed on the Plants Biosecurity Index with the appropriate status.

Plants Biosecurity Index