NEW ZEALAND cut flower and foliage growers exporting the USA have received an early Christmas present.
The country’s Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry says it has receive notification from the US Department of Agriculture that they have approved the resumption of imports of New Zealand field-grown cut flowers and foliage to the US.
Cut flowers and foliage grown in a hot/screen house environment had already been granted access in an earlier concession.
The USDA suspended the importation of cut flowers and greenery from New Zealand in September because of “recent interceptions of light brown apple mot in shipments at US ports.”
MAF Biosecurity New Zealand senior advisor Peter Johnson says a high level of collaboration helped the country regain access quickly for product grown in a hot/screen house environment.
"In these particular circumstances the trade suspension could have been catastrophic but while there are losses these were not as heavy as could be expected by a prolonged suspension in trade," Mr Johnson said.
"We had excellent co-operation from the USDA, exporters and industry and getting a return to trade almost immediately for product grown in a closed environment which was a very pleasing result. We then focused on re-gaining access for flowers/foliage grown in an open environment."
