May 15, 2018
Lack of biosecurity concern for all
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones says the Government is having to deal with the consequences of National running down biosecurity.
The Ministry for Primary Industries has confirmed cases of the cattle disease mycoplasma bovis on 39 farms nationwide, with a further 66 farms placed under notice to restrict the movement of stock and equipment.
The Government is considering whether it is technically still possible to eradicate the disease by culling herds or if it is something the industry has to live with.
Mr Jones says biosecurity goes to the heart of New Zealand's reputation as a producer of great food, but under former minister Nathan Guy the system became ineffective.
"And the farmers are partly to blame because the system they need to be observing, ie ear tags and numbers for all the animals, has been circumvented and it has spread in such a way the bureaucrats tracing it are surprised how far it has spread," he says.
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