The New Zealand horticulture industry has expressed its disappointment at the government's unwillingness to eradicate the hadda beetle, which was discovered in Auckland in January.
Horticulture New Zealand chief executive Peter Silcock said the industry had worked with the country's biosecurity bodies and had reluctantly accepted their assessment that the cost of eradication exceeded the potential cost to the industry.
'We agree that their figures don't justify eradication, but the fact is this leaves us with another pest to manage and the assessment is it is likely to cost the industry NZ$100m over the next 20 years,' Mr Silcock said.
'The impacts include increased control costs and losses in yield. We need to always remember, these decisions are about people's livelihoods.
'We have scheduled another meeting with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) to discuss potential controls. This pest seems to be moving quite slowly and we need to look at more options to slow its spread.'
The arrival of the hadda beetle and other horticultural pests has left growers asking questions about the systems keeping pest and diseases out of New Zealand.
'They want to know about how much risk we are exposed to and about our ability to respond to incursions. It is fair to say that growers are angry and frustrated,' Mr Silcock said.
'New Zealand is chasing its tail on biosecurity, running incursion responses that end up with MAF saying we can't eradicate and the industry has to deal with it.
'Horticulture has a strategy and vision to build this industry from NZ$5bn in value to NZ$10bn by 2020. We are not going to make it if we can't stop incursions or effectively manage our biosecurity.
'It is vital that we sit down with Biosecurity NZ and sort this out. We want to discuss our frustrations and find a way forward for horticulture. Clearly, the current situation is unacceptable.'
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