New Zealand's Green Party is calling for imported fruits and vegetables to be tested for pesticide residues and other contamination at the border, after revealing that currently produce is only checked once on sale.
Green Party MP Sue Kedgley told reporters that it was too late to test once food was already on the shelves, since people will have already eaten it.
'They've found illegal residues in produce, but it has all come through the border and we've been buying it and eating it. How can New Zealanders have confidence when we don't test at the border,' she said.
Although New Zealand is renowned for its strict biosecurity rules, 145,000 tonnes of fruit and 41,800 tonnes of vegetables escaped inspection for chemical contaminants last year, press reports said.
In Europe and Australia, border tests are reportedly carried out on 10 per cent and 5 per cent of imported produce respectively.
But the New Zealand Food Safety Authority only carries out random pesticide tests on unwashed fruit and vegetables after it goes on sale, press reports said.
In May, five out of 13 samples of dried plums were contaminated with illegally high lead residues, and in 2008 tomatoes from China were found to contain the banned pesticide lindane, The Dominion Post said.
Ms Kedgley said it was unfair that produce could be imported containing illegal pesticides when local growers had to meet such high standards.
She added that the lack of border checks might encourage unscrupulous exporters to offload pesticide-ridden food on New Zealand.
Responding to Ms Kedgley's comments, a food authority spokesman told The Dominion Post that testing to a 'statistically valid' level was impractical because little fresh produce would make it to the market before it went off, and food costs would increase.
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