. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SPS/N/NZL/257
 8 September 2003
(03-4687)
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Original:  English
NOTIFICATION
1. Member to Agreement notifying:   NEW ZEALAND
If applicable, name of local government involved:
2. Agency responsible:   Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF)
3. Products covered (provide tariff item number(s) as specified in national schedules
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where
applicable):  Beta (sugar beet), Capsicum  (pepper), Lens (lentil), Lycopersicon  (tomato),
Malus  (apple), Medicago  (lucerne), Prunus  (plum), Pyrus  (pear), Secale  (rye), and Vaccinium
(blueberry) seed for sowing.
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable:
All countries.
5. Title, language and number of pages of the notified document:   Importation of seed for
sowing – measures for "high impact pests" (MAF standard 155.02.05 Importation of Seed
for Sowing ), English, 18 pages
6. Description of content:   
MAF has recently identified a number of high impact pests, which are seed transmitted and
which are associated with a number of important crops.  This includes Clavibacter
michiganensis  subsp. sepedonicus on sugar beet, Tomato bushy stunt virus  on pepper,
Trogoderma granarium  on lentil, Pepino mosaic virus  and Tomato bushy stunt virus  on
tomato, Tomato bushy stunt virus  on apple, Trogoderma granarium  on lucerne, Tomato
bushy stunt virus  and Plum pox virus  on plum, Tomato  bushy stunt virus  on pear, Tilletia
indica  on rye, and Monilinia fructigena on blueberry.  MAF considers that there are not
appropriate measures in place to prevent the importation of these pests and therefore
proposes to introduce appropriate phytosanitary measures as soon as possible.  Seed of
these genera are currently imported according to the requirements in MAF standard
155.02.05 Importation of Seed for Sowing ) in particular the genus-specific schedules.
The purpose of this document is to amend the schedule of entry conditions for  Beta,
Capsicum , Lens, Lycopersicon , Malus,  Medicago , Prunus ,  Pyrus ,  Secale , and Vaccinium
seed.   The proposed measures may include additional declarations on the phytosanitary
certificates, importation of seed from pest free areas and a requirement for post entry
quarantine.
7. Objective and rationale:  [    ] food safety, [   ] animal health, [ X ] plant protection,
[  ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease,  [   ] protect territory from other
damage from pestsG/SPS/N/NZL/257
Page 2
8. International standard, gu ideline or recommendation:
[   ] Codex Alimentarius Commission, [   ] Office International des Epizooties,
[ X ] International Plant Protec tion Convention, [   ] None
If an international standard , guideline or recommendation exists, give the appropriate
reference and briefly identify deviations:
9. Relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:
10. Proposed date of adoption:   10 November 2003
11. Proposed date of entry into force:   10 November 2003
12. Final date for comments:  7 November 2003
Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [   ] National notification
authority, [   ] National enquiry point, or address, fax number and E-mail address (ifavailable) of other body:
Plant Imports – Consultation on Cicer  (chickpea) seed for sowing
Plants Biosecurity
Biosecurity Authority
Ministry of Agriculture and ForestryPO Box 2526
Wellington
New Zealand
Fax: +64 4 474 4257
Email: plantimports@maf.govt.nz
13. Texts available from:  [ X ] National notification authority,  [   ] National enquiry point,
or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body:
Sally Griffin, Coordinator, SPS New Z ealand, PO Box 2526, Wellington, New Zealand.
Tel:  +64 4 474 4140;  Fax:  +64 4 470 2730;
E-mail:  sps@maf.govt.nz
Website:  www.maf.govt.nz/biosecurity/sps/tra nsparency/notifications/index.htm