Monday, March 31, 2008 - 03:44 PM

New Zealand’s honey industry could be under attack from introduced bee diseases, if the Biosecurity and Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Legislation Amendment Bill is passed.

National Beekeepers Association Waikato Branch spokesperson, Russell Berry, said the Amendment Bill which is due for its final reading this week would effectively disregard a Court of Appeal ruling, and could potentially prove disastrous for the country’s multi-million dollar honey business and food producing sectors that rely on bees for pollination.

In 2007, the beekeeping industry won a Court of Appeal action making it unlawful for MAF to allow new organisms such Paenibacillus alvei (P.alvei) a disease of bees, to enter New Zealand.

“It affirmed that the only body with power to approve the introduction of new organisms into the country was the Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA).”

ERMA declared P.alvei which is currently found in some Australian honey, a new organism and gazetted it as such in February 2007.

Russell said that among other things, the proposed amendments to the Biosecurity and Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Legislation would adopt a retrospective stance effectively overturning the Court of Appeal ruling.

“If this were to happen, P.alvei will undoubtly become establised in New Zealand. In addition, other bee diseases could be introduced such as European Foulbrood and Colony Collapse Disorder which is currently being linked to the importation of live bees from Australia. This Disorder is proving to be a major problem in America where it is killing approximately 30 per cent of beehives there every year.”

He said New Zealand’s unique and highly sought-after UMF® Manuka Honey could also be adversely affected.

“New Zealand has not imported any honey for approximately 50 years. It’s for this very reason that the country has been reasonably free from bee diseases except for varroa which was a biosecurity breach.”

“The beekeeping industry, along with the rest of the primary production sector, needs to be protected against the importation of new diseases and new organisms. Primary producers from a huge range of sectors united before the Select Committee to oppose this legislation, yet they were ignored. Bees are a vital link in the ecology of our food chain.

“Some of these new diseases and new organisms could also detrimentally affect the flora and fauna of New Zealand.”

Russell said the beekeepers’ concerns about honey imports were not financially driven, as a comparison of local and Australian honey product prices clearly showed that New Zealand products were cheaper.

“This is a matter that not only affects beekeepers but the whole of New Zealand’s biosecurity.”

Russell said he believed that the amendment will further weaken the biosecurity and GE free status of New Zealand.

“The amendment could also open the door for horses from Australia which have been vaccinated with a genetically engineered virus to enter the country,” he said.

“Already we’ve seen varroa, didymo, and gypsy moths enter New Zealand. If the proposed amendment in its current form gets the backing of Parliament this week, the beekeeping industry and New Zealand as a whole should brace themselves for further problems.

“Even if the Amendment is not stopped, in the committee stages of the Bill the house will have the opportunity to allow the beekeepers to enjoy the fruits of their victory in the courts. The attitude to these proposed changes will be a measure of the commitment of the National Party to primary producers of New Zealand and their support for the rule of law.

“Parliament does not usually legislate to deprive parties of their victories in the courts. It is a measure of how desperate New Zealand is to curry favour with Australia that it is prepared to ignore that principle, in this case.”