Road testing the PPBS

Road testing the Plant Production Biosecurity Scheme

Over the past year NZ Plant Producers Incorporated (NZPPI) has worked with plant producers, plant buyers, horticulture and forestry sectors, MPI and other stakeholders to design the Plant Production Biosecurity Scheme (PPBS).

The Scheme will assist New Zealand’s nursery sector to improve plant hygiene and traceability practices by helping producers identify and manage biosecurity risks.

The nursery sector is diverse and complex so bringing everyone on board and getting the foundations in place has been a significant task.

The pan-industry team are now in pilot phase where nurseries will start to see more information about the scheme and a number of nurseries in the Bay of Plenty and beyond will be field testing the core elements of the scheme and undergoing the associated audits. The steering group are now also working on specific Phytophthora and Kauri Dieback measures that may be associated with the scheme in future.

More information on the proposed nursery biosecurity scheme can be found on the NZPPI website.