Someone in MAF has been pushing for imports of raw pig meat from countries affected by PPRS for years. Jim Anderson as a minister in the last Labour government push this issue back to MAF for further investigation. I think either the Audit Office or Police should investigate MAF employees for possible corruption. BIOSECURITY AUSTRALIA are watching this issue play out in New Zealand, because they also do not have PPRS and will not let unprocessed imports of pig meat into Australia. Australia is concerned that New Zealand could become the weak link in the chain and are concerned that MAF in New Zealand does not appear to have the intellectual depth to investigate PPRS objectively.
We should all become Vegans... Problem solved.
Get a grip! We don't ever need to import pork. I agree with all above comments. Let's concentrate on feeding ourselves properly and exporting excellent food that is excess to our requirements rather than bringing in an inferior product for the sake of a trade deal. My priority is to have high-quality, local, seasonal food at a reasonable price accessible to Kiwis for the whole of life. End of story. We have the land, the water and the climate needed to easily achieve this. And a population of only 4m. We could be the best-fed country in the world. Just do it!
When will we learn that prevention is better than a cure. We are geographically isolated from our markets which is a disadvantage but we are disease free which is a huge advantage, why loose the one benefit we have...........stop being so short sighted and think of the next generation who will have to deal with the disease
I'm not reassured by MAF's predictions that this disease won't affect us. They've done an appalling job in many areas, albeit with few resources. Can we get a MAF person (or even better, the Minister) in to discuss the subject?
The Americans' price for having a free trade agreement? (As well as many other conditions I'm sure) Seems a pretty stupid idea.
I dont know why we need to import pork into New Zealand, if the country was run properly the need to import meat or vegetables wouldnt exist the money would be made in exporting products then prices in New Zealand wouldnt need to be as high as they are, we pay just as much sometimes more than what other countries pay for products we produce, NZ lamb in the UK can often be in the same price range as what we pay in our supermarkets here, ridiculous indeed so we import other countries products and any diseases or bugs they may have and jeopardize what we produce here all for a few quick dollars, go back to the good old days where New Zealand worked for New Zealand and didnt rip off ourselves.
We need to improve the diseases prevention.Or the happy pigs will become angry pigs.lol