Legal controls on the movement of fruit and vegetables in Papatoetoe, are now in place says Biosecurity New Zealand Commissioner North Mike Inglis.

The move follows the detection of a single male Oriental fruit fly in a surveillance trap in the area. To date, no other flies have been found in surveillance traps.

“We need community help to make sure we successfully find and eradicate any further fruit flies that may be present in the area,” said Inglis.

Biosecurity New Zealand staff are busy in the area today laying more traps and giving out information to households.

“There have been 12 previous fruit fly incursions in New Zealand, which we have successfully eradicated so we have a very strong and detailed operational plans to guide our work.”

“The rules now in place prohibit moving fruit and vegetables out of a specified controlled area around where the fruit fly was found.

“You can find a detailed map of the controlled area and a full description of the boundaries and rules in place here: https://www.mpi.govt.nz/dmsdocument/66984-Oriental-fruit-fly-CAN

The controlled area has two zones – A and B. Zone A is a 200m zone, with a 198 properties. Zone B covers a 1500 metre area, with 5,470 properties.

Zone A

No whole fresh fruit and vegetables, except for leafy vegetables and soil free root vegetables, can be moved outside Zone A. This applies to all produce, regardless of whether it was bought or grown.

Zone B

All fruit and vegetables grown within Zone B cannot be moved out of the controlled area.

“These legal controls are an important precaution while we investigate whether there are any further fruit flies present in the area,” Mr Inglis says.

“Should there be any more flies out there, this will help prevent their spread out of the area.

“We are working closely with our Government Industry Agreement partners in the horticultural industry. We all appreciate this will be inconvenient for the many people living in and around the controlled area, but following these directions is a critical precaution to protect our horticultural industries, home gardens and our New Zealand way of life.

“It is likely the restrictions will be in place for at least two weeks.”

Signs will also be put in place notifying people of the restrictions and marking the controlled area boundaries.

To report suspected finds of fruit fly, call MPI’s Pest and Diseases Hotline on 0800 80 99 66.

Detail about the controlled area

Zone A

No fruit and vegetables (other than leafy or soil free root vegetables and cooked, processed, preserved, dried, frozen and canned fruit) can be moved from Zone A of the controlled area.

Compost and green waste from gardens also cannot be moved out of this zone.

Residents in Zone A are asked to avoid composting fruit and vegetables. To dispose of fruit and vegetable waste, use a sink waste disposal unit if available, or bins provided by Biosecurity New Zealand. These bins will be delivered shortly, and residents advised of their location.

Zone B

No fruit and vegetables grown in the Zone B can be moved out of the controlled area. You are free to move commercially purchased fruit and vegetables (e.g. fruit and vegetables brought at the supermarket) out of the area. Home grown produce waste and garden waste needs to be disposed of in Biosecurity New Zealand bins.

For more information on the fruit fly, check out https://www.mpi.govt.nz/biosecurity/exotic-pests-and-diseases-in-new-zealand/active-biosecurity-responses-to-pests-and-diseases/oriental-fruit-fly-detection/.