ONZPR overview

Biosecurity status information

The purpose of New Zealand's biosecurity system in relation to imported goods is to effectively manage the biosecurity risk from pests and infectious agents.

MPI applies measures (import requirements) to manage the risk from such organisms and agents on pathways where the likelihood of entry and establishment exceeds our appropriate level of protection.

Unwanted (NZ)

Status defined in the Biosecurity Act 1993.

An unwanted organism is any organism that a chief technical officer believes is capable or potentially capable of causing unwanted harm to any natural and physical resources or human health. Full definition.

Regulatory status (NZ)

New Zealand assesses the regulatory status of organisms as part of developing import requirements.

Each organism or infectious agent will have the following regulatory status determined by a Chief Technical Officer (CTO) of the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI):

• Regulated - means that a CTO has assessed the organism to be of potential importance to New Zealand and not yet present here, or present but not widely distributed and being officially controlled, or the organism is a vector for another organism that is regulated. The CTO identifies actions required to manage any risk of entry and establishment from specific regulated organisms.
• Non-regulated - means that a CTO has assessed the organism and found it is either:
  • present in New Zealand, or
  • unlikely to ever establish in New Zealand, or
  • unlikely to cause significant harm if it does become established.
• Not assessed - means that a CTO has not yet assessed the organism. Not assessed organisms intercepted at the border will either:
  • be subject to a rapid risk assessment to determine the regulatory status as above, or
  • have provisional measures applied to manage the risk from the organism until a risk assessment can be performed.

Notifiable (NZ)

Status defined in the Biosecurity Act 1993.

In addition to the regulatory status the Governor-General may, by Order in Council, declare an organism to be a notifiable organism. Full definition.

Export-related definitions

Destination country

Country you want to export to, each of which has its own set of regulations relating to unwanted pests.

Country freedom status (NZ)

Exporters of plants or plant products often need to provide phytosanitary certificates to the destination country. These are issued by MPI and confirm that plant health has been checked.

Phytosanitary certificates sometimes need to include an 'additional declaration' to confirm the products are free from particular organisms. The Country freedom status database contains a list of the 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.

Using the results for an additional declaration:

• Not known to be present - if the results show that the organism is 'not known to be present in NZ' you don't need any further survey, inspection or testing for the additional declaration.
• Known to be present - if the results show that the organism is 'known to be present in NZ' a survey, inspection or test must be carried out for the additional declaration. Contact your independent verification agency (IVA) for advice.
• Not assessed - 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, contact Plant Exports by emailing plantexports@mpi.govt.nz.

Additional definitions

HSNO status (new organism) (NZ)

Status defined in the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996 (HSNO Act 1996).

The purpose of the HSNO Act 1996 is to protect the environment, and the health and safety of people and communities, by preventing or managing the adverse effects of hazardous substances and new organisms.

Each organism has the following HSNO status determined by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA):

• New organism - means an organism that meets the criteria in section 2 of the HSNO Act 1996.
• Prohibited new organism - is any organism named in Schedule 2 of HSNO Act 1996.
• Not new - means that EPA have assessed the organism and found it not to be new.
• Not assessed - means that EPA have not yet assessed the organism.

Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) definitions

Potential vector

A vector in the context of the Pest Register is an organism which can carry or harbour another organism capable of causing harm to human, animal or plant health or the environment in New Zealand.

Due to the risk posed, MPI can regulate organisms that are vectors. However, on interception at the border they may be assessed as actionable or not actionable, depending on the commodity they were found on and where it has been imported from. Generally, actions are only required when the vector is intercepted on a commodity from a location where the vectored organism is present.

Specific vector determinations that have already been made can be obtained by following the link provided on the pest detail page.

Action upon interception

An actionable pest means a regulated pest that when detected at the border would result in action being taken to manage the risk from that pest.

Where action upon interception is recorded as "Yes", action is required to effectively manage the risk in relation to the commodity class the pest was found on. The action which may be required can be obtained by following the link provided on the pest detail page.