‘Hysteria’ won’t stop palm kernel imports

Refining by-product to keep coming from Indonesia despite foot-and-mouth fears

There’s no need for [FMD] panic . . . good reminder for Kiwis. Andrew Hoggard, Federated Farmers

Biosecurity NZ has no plans to stop imports of controversial dairy industry feed supplement palm kernel expeller from main supplier Indonesia, where foot-and-mouth disease has broken out.

Environmentalists including the Green Party want PKE importing banned, arguing its manufacture as a palm oil refining by-product contributed to illegal and unsustainable destruction of rainforests, harming animal habitat and contributing to climate change.

Indonesia is New Zealand’s single largest source of PKE, accounting for 57 per cent of imported volumes over the past 10 years.

Last year nearly 1.8 million tonnes were imported, of which 1.2m tonnes were from Indonesia, Biosecurity NZ said.

PKE imports peaked in 2018 and have fallen 17 per cent since, the Ministry for Primary Industries agency said.

But critics hoping New Zealand’s heightened vigilance after the Indonesian breakout might prompt an import block on PKE will be disappointed.

Biosecurity NZ director of animal and plant health Peter Thomson told said the risk of PKE carrying the footand-mouth disease (FMD) virus was low.

He said that was due to the heat processes used to produce it, and strong standards in place for products coming in from Indonesia, especially PKE.

“Based on our assessment of risk, and the findings of our audits of PKE plants in Indonesia, MPI is confident the risk of FMD associated with PKE meat imports is being managed at a very high level,” he said.

Meanwhile, Federated Farmers leader Andrew Hoggard has warned against the fear of a first-ever incursion of FMD to New Zealand tipping into “hysteria”.

While Indonesia was a popular tourist destination for Kiwis, and close compared to some countries where FMD was endemic, Hoggard said China has had foot-and-mouth disease.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, thousands of Chinese travellers visited here every year, he said.

While applauding the heightened border security and efforts to lift risk awareness among travellers, Hoggard said he was getting calls “asking when it’s coming”.

“[Precautions] have been stepped up and it’s good to be vigilant, but I’m concerned about it turning to hysteria. It was only two years ago thousands of people were coming in from China.

“There’s no need for panic. This is a good reminder to New Zealanders not to bring back live organisms.”

Hoggard believed the biggest FMD threat was posed by a traveller bringing in an illegal and undetected meat product, which was then thrown out and ended up being fed to pigs.

Vets call pigs “foot-and-mouth factories“because they produce so much more virus than cattle, sheep and goats.

Biosecurity NZ’s Thomson agreed illegal meat was the most likely route of FMD introduction. It is illegal here to feed pigs untreated meat or waste that might have contacted raw meat.

FMD is a highly infectious virus only affecting cloven-hooved livestock.

It is present in many countries, especially South East Asia and Africa. Its recent discovery in Indonesia has triggered alarm for New Zealand and Australia, which have high livestock numbers.

An outbreak of FMD here would result in trading partners immediately closing their doors to our main primary exports until the disease was stamped out, with devastating results for New Zealand’s $51 billion a year agricultural export economy, and sector jobs.

It would prompt the destruction of whole herds and flocks.

A 2014 MPI report incorporating economic modelling by NZIER showed a $16.2 billion loss of export earnings from a large event.

On top of this would be eradication and farmer compensation costs which would run into more than $1.7b.

Processing plants would immediately shut down. Millions of animals would have to be destroyed for welfare and containment reasons.

MPI is currently reviewing the 2014 assessment.