Chinese authorities are closely monitoring New Zealand kiwifruit, after
some fruit entering the country was found with a fruit rot fungus.
Zespri International, the kiwifruit marketer and exporter, says it is working together with the Chinese officials, but the fungus, Neofabraea actinidiae, has no food safety implications and Zespri's kiwifruit exports continue to flow into China.
Last Friday 29 July, China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) issued a risk notification and strengthened inspection and quarantine processes on New Zealand kiwifruit entering Chinese ports after routine testing uncovered a fungus on four containers of kiwifruit which had come into Tianjin Port in June.
"The information we have received indicates this is a technical issue and we are working with New Zealand and Chinese officials to understand the situation more fully," the spokeswoman said. "We’re about two-thirds of the way through shipping with 9 million trays still to ship to China from our total forecast volume of 24 million trays this season. Out of the 135 million trays we’re shipping this year a very small percentage of this inevitably goes off and is lost."
Chinese officials have been advised to strengthen inspection and quarantine processes around New Zealand Kiwifruit and seize goods that were suspected of being infected. The "warning notification" is valid for six months, the Aqsiq notice said.
It emerged last month that Trade Minister Todd McClay had been told by NZ embassy staff in Beijing that the possibility of retaliatory action had been raised with a Zespri staffer in Beijing by someone in a related trade association of kiwifruit importers.
That rumour was reportedly investigated by NZ officials and said to have had no foundation.
Andrew Zhu, a director of market research firm Trace Research, said Chinese media was already reporting the disease had been found in Zespri kiwifruit.
"If this quarantine is going to be six months' long, Zespri's brand image could be potentially damaged, and it is hard to rebuild confidence among Chinese consumers," Zhu said.
Minister for Primary Industries Nathan Guy said there was nothing to indicate the increased Chinese scrutiny around kiwifruit was anything other than a technical issue.
"These kind of issues aren't uncommon - exporters expect to work with local authorities on technical matters fairly regularly," Guy said.
"Zespri have been working through this issue with help from the Ministry for Primary Industries."
Source: nzherald.co.nz
