Part 1: Introduction

Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry: Managing biosecurity risks associated with high-risk sea containers.

1.1
In this Part, we describe:

What our audit examined

1.2
Sea containers are designed for transporting freight by sea. About half a million sea containers are imported each year.

1.3
There are many pests and diseases that can come into the country either on or in the sea containers, the goods, or the packaging materials. The risks to our economy, environment, health, plants, and animals posed by these unwanted pests and diseases are referred to as “biosecurity risks”. Biosecurity is the exclusion, eradication, or effective management of risks posed by pests and diseases to the economy, environment, and human health.

1.4
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (the Ministry) is responsible for managing the biosecurity risks associated with sea containers under the Biosecurity Act 1993, and in particular through the Import Health Standard for Sea Containers from All Countries (the Sea Container Import Health Standard). An import health standard is issued by the Director-General of the Ministry. An import health standard specifies the requirements to be met for effectively managing biosecurity risks arising from importing goods.

1.5
Our performance audit examined how the Ministry identifies and manages the biosecurity risks associated with “high-risk” sea containers – the sea containers that have a higher than average probability of being contaminated with pests and diseases, of carrying goods not recorded on the manifest, or of carrying packaging material that is not on the manifest or that is prohibited.

Our audit objective

1.6
We sought to provide Parliament and the public with assurance that the Ministry accurately identifies the sea containers that pose the highest biosecurity risk, and then comprehensively inspects and decontaminates them.

The scope of our audit

1.7
Our audit focused on 3 areas:

  • the implementation of the Sea Container Import Health Standard;
  • how the Ministry identifies high-risk sea containers; and
  • how the Ministry ensures that high-risk sea containers are properly inspected and, if necessary, decontaminated.

1.8
We did not consider the import health standards or procedures for managing the biosecurity risks associated with the goods transported in sea containers.

1.9
We concentrated on the management of high-risk sea containers, which are inspected by the Quarantine Service within the Ministry. We have not examined the effectiveness of the management of lower-risk sea containers that are checked by “accredited persons”.1

1.10
We considered the functionality of the New Zealand Customs Service computer system (CusMod) because it is an important part of the electronic risk-profiling system for sea containers. We did not audit the performance of the New Zealand Customs Service in carrying out any of its functions.

Our expectations

1.11
To assess the Ministry’s management of the biosecurity risks associated with high-risk sea containers, we established a set of audit criteria or expectations. We expected that:

  • the Sea Container Import Health Standard would be fully implemented and enforced;
  • there would be robust systems and processes for risk profiling sea containers; and
  • there would be targeted, comprehensive, and consistent processes and procedures to ensure that high-risk sea containers are free from contamination.

1.12
We set out our expectations in more detail in Parts 3, 4, and 5 of this report.

How we carried out our audit

1.13
To assess the Ministry’s management of the biosecurity risks associated with high-risk sea containers, we reviewed relevant documentation and interviewed Ministry staff in Auckland, Tauranga, Wellington, and Christchurch. We also interviewed industry stakeholders, including:

  • New Zealand Customs Service;
  • Ports of Auckland Limited;
  • Port of Tauranga Limited;
  • Lyttelton Port Company Limited;
  • Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders Federation of New Zealand Incorporated;
  • shipping companies;
  • freight forwarding companies; and
  • logistics companies.

Relationship of this audit to our 2002 report

1.14
In 2002, we released a report that looked at the Ministry’s management of biosecurity risks.2 The 2002 report included a case study that focused on the management of biosecurity risks associated with sea containers.

1.15
The Ministry accepted and has implemented the recommendations that we made in 2002 about managing sea containers. Therefore, this audit does not follow up on the implementation of those recommendations. Instead, given a 2003 review (see paragraph 2.6) and 2004 implementation of the revised Sea Container Import Health Standard, we have taken a fresh look at how the Ministry is managing sea containers – with a focus on the management of those sea containers deemed to pose the highest risk.

1: An accredited person is a person who has attended and passed a course in basic biosecurity awareness associated with imported sea containers and container checking, and has been approved by the Director-General of the Ministry to conduct checks under the Sea Container Import Health Standard.

2: Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry: Management of Biosecurity Risks, ISBN 0-477-02898-5.

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