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The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is on high alert to stop the invasive brown marmorated stink bug from making a home in New Zealand. The bug is likely to start showing up in imported cargo from the northern hemisphere. Brown marmorated stink bug is a serious horticultural pest in the United States and is also starting to spread through Canada and parts of Europe. The Ministry for Primary Industries and industry groups have been working together to prepare for the increased risk.

Biosecurity officials are promising to take tough action against cargo vessels believed to be infested with brown marmorated stink bug during the upcoming risk season. The risk season runs from September to April, when stink bugs from the northern hemisphere are most likely to crawl into cargo heading to New Zealand. Last season, biosecurity officers intercepted more than 2,500 individual stink bugs at the border, mainly on vessels and cargo.

Today's announcement by federal agriculture minister David Littleproud to establish an office of environmental biosecurity will better prepare Australia to prevent and respond to new harmful pest, weed and disease invasions. The decision was announced today as part of a $138 million boost in investment for national biosecurity, including $7.6 million over five years to establish the office, headed by an Environmental Biosecurity Protection Officer, within the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources.

The New Zealand Department of Conservation (NZDOC) and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) officially signed a Declaration of Intent which sees the NZDOC become the first partner of the Pacific Regional Invasive Species Management Support Service (PRISMSS). The PRISMSS is a regional mechanism, which facilitates the scaling up of invasive species management in the Pacific. It provides management support for on-the-ground invasive species actions through streamlining and coordinating activities and invasive species management experts. It has five regional programmes, each with an expert who will lead in their respective field. One of these programmes is 'Resilient Ecosystem-Resilient Communities' in the area of relocation of species to restored habitat, which SPREP and NZDOC will be the leading experts of.

New Zealand is the first country to implement nationwide regulations to manage risks associated with biofouling on international vessels. The development of this regulation and its implementation can serve as a blue-print for other jurisdictions that are interested in preventing the spread on non-indigenous marine species.