What is country pest freedom status?
Exporters of plants or plant products often need to provide phytosanitary certificates to the destination country. These are issued by MPI and provide an assurance that the plant health (phytosanitary) requirements of the importing country have been met.
Phytosanitary certificates sometimes need to include an additional declaration to confirm the products are free from particular organisms. Country pest freedom is the status given to specific organisms that have had their presence or absence from New Zealand checked by MPI for an additional declaration. It is not a list of all organisms that are present or absent from New Zealand.
If your destination market requires an additional declaration for an organism, you can check its status by searching the Official New Zealand Pest Register.
Official New Zealand Pest Register
Using the results for an additional declaration
- If the results show that the organism is 'not known to occur in New Zealand' you don't need any further survey, inspection or testing for the additional declaration unless otherwise specified in MPI’s Importing Country Phytosanitary Requirements (ICPR).
- If the results show that the organism is 'known to occur in New Zealand' a survey, inspection or test must be carried out for the additional declaration. Contact your independent verification agency (IVA) for advice.
- If the organism doesn't appear in a search, this is not proof that the organism is absent. You can ask MPI to confirm the pest’s status in New Zealand. MPI provides this service on a cost-recovery basis. For further information, email plantexports@mpi.govt.nz
