All need to work to prevent disease outbreaks All New Zealanders needed to take responsibility for maintaining secure national borders, Agriculture and acting Biosecurity Minister Jim Sutton said today. He said it was vital for travellers to fill in their quarantine declaration cards correctly, to declare anything that might be a risk, and to tell others of the risks. All the biosecurity and border control measures in the world cannot stop someone deliberately smuggling in risk material - as the RCD importation Mr Sutton said foot and mouth disease was a terrible disease for animals. It is vital for the economy, and all New Zealanders, that it doesn't get here. If the disease did get to New Zealand, Mr Sutton said, our standard of living would drop by at least 25 per cent.
Agriculture is the backbone of the New Zealand economy.
It is vital that people returning home fill in their quarantine cards properly. These questions are asked for a reason. MAF officials work hard and quickly, so even if you do get directed to the red lane, you won't be delayed unduly. MAF has an excellent profiling system to identify risk passengers. Mr Sutton said there were about 490 outbreaks of foot and mouth disease in Asia reported last year, and it was likely there were more unreported cases.