Hitchhiker pests | NZ Government

Keep your vessel pest-free

Hitchhiker insects and animals may happen to board a vessel while it's overseas – sometimes carried on cargo, blown on board in small numbers undetected, or arriving in swarms. If they then find their way to New Zealand they could affect human health or seriously harm New Zealand's economy and unique environment.

Common hitchhiking pests that have been found on ships and yachts on arrival include:

ants and termites
some types of beetles that gather together
moths that are attracted to ships' lights to lay their eggs on structures
mosquitoes
wasps and bees.

Fact sheets about hitchhiking pests

Don't bring hitchhikers to New Zealand on your commercial vessel [PDF, 484 KB]

Don't bring hitchhikers to New Zealand on your vessel (fact sheet for yachts) [PDF, 849 KB]

Two pests of major concern

Moths within the flighted spongy moth complex (Lymantria spp) and brown marmorated stink bugs are serious pests and special management procedures are in place to prevent their spread to New Zealand.

Flighted spongy moth complex

From 1 February 2018, an arriving vessel will be considered a high risk for flighted spongy moth complex (FSMC) if in the previous 12 months it has visited any of the risk areas during the specified risk periods in Table 1 (sourced from the NAPPO FSMC regulations) and requires a Certificate of Freedom of FSMC.

Table 1: Flighted spongy moth (Lymantria spp) complex risk areas and risk periods

Risk area	Requirements apply where a vessel has visited any ports:	Specific risk period
Russian Far East	South of 60^o North and West of 147^o longitude (excluding those ports on the Kamchatka Peninsula)	June 15 to October 15
China	North of latitude of 31^o 15' N	June 1 to September 30
Republic of Korea	In all areas	June 1 to September 30
Japan – Northern	In prefectures of Hokkaido, Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima, Akita, Yamagata	June 15 to October 15
Japan – Central	In prefectures of Niigata, Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui, Ibaraki, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Shizuoka, Aichi, Mie	June 1 to September 30
Japan – Southern	In prefectures of Wakayama, Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo, Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi, Kagawa, Tokushima, Ehime, Kochi, Fukuoka, Oita, Saga, Nagasaki, Miyazaki, Kumamoto, Kagoshima	May 15 to August 31
Japan – Far Southern	In prefecture of Okinawa	May 25 to June 30

Certificates of Freedom

If the vessel is high risk and does not have a Certificate of Freedom from a recognised inspection body, a high-level inspection may be required at a specific port as determined by MPI or potentially 4 nautical miles offshore at an agreed location if the risk is very high.

Certificates of Freedom will avoid undue delays on your arrival in New Zealand. If you wish to obtain certification from any of the listed countries, use one of the approved (recognised) inspection bodies.

Find an approved inspection body [PDF, 137 KB]

The Craft Risk Management Standard (CRMS) for Vessels came into force on 1 February 2018.

Download the CRMS for Vessels [PDF, 1 MB]

Download the CRMS guidance document [PDF, 505 KB]

Brown marmorated stink bugs

This insect is a serious pest of crops and nuisance to people. It has been found arriving at the New Zealand border on cargo and vessels from the United States. Crews should look out for the bug and report any sightings.

New and used cars, trucks, machinery, boats and parts imported from the United States must be treated by one of 3 methods before being shipped to New Zealand.