Tourism growth raises New Zealand biosecurity risks

A burgeoning number of overseas tourists are bringing an ever greater number of challenges for New Zealand's stringent biosecurity regime, the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) said Wednesday.

Visitor arrivals in May were up 10 percent year on year to 176, 700, and MPI biosecurity officers had intercepted a variety of " unusual and potentially alarming risk items," MPI border clearance manager Andrew Spelman said.

New Zealand maintains strict border controls that require visitors to declare foods and other materials that could carry pests and diseases that threaten the country's agricultural industries or its unique wildlife.

Biosecurity staff intercepted 6,733 items from arriving passengers in May, of which 5,803 were declared, Spelman said in a statement.

Some of the notable seizures included: dried frogs declared as food, which were seized from a woman arriving from Bangkok; about 19 kilograms of declared bananas, chilli, cabbage and other fresh food in the baggage of a passenger arriving from Singapore; and a tiger tooth declared by a family returning from India.

A French passenger carrying fruit fly-infested chillies was fined 400 NZ dollars (272 U.S. dollars) for failing to declare the produce on the official arrival card.

A passenger from India was also fined for failing to declare a haul of mung beans, chillies, eggs and apples.

The interceptions showed "New Zealand border controls are working, but ram home the message that we need to stay vigilant," said Spelman. Endi