Last week Dr Kyu-Ock Yim from Korea's Department of Plant Quarantine, made her official visit to New Zealand to inspect Central Otago cherry exports to Korea. This visit by a Korean inspector is scheduled every three years and is hosted by MPI and Summerfruit NZ.
Dr Yim and Jacqueline Neave from MPI
During her visit Dr Yim inspected orchards and packhouses registered for exporting cherries to Korea. She took particular interest in pest control for shothole and codling moth, inspection procedures, record keeping and packing processes including the use of the MPI tape for export to Korea.
This visit is very important to keep continued access for our cherries to Korea and to reassure Korean officials that our produce meets their phytosanitary requirements. The Korean inspector mentioned a small number of mites had been intercepted on New Zealand cherries in previous seasons. Summerfruit NZ reminds packhouses to be especially vigilant for mites during inspection and around unused packaging. No other issues were raised.
We are yet to receive official feedback from MPI, but can confirm that Dr Yim was very pleased with the systems put in place by those registered for the Cherries to Korea: Official Assurance Programme (OAP).
Summerfruit NZ would like to thank all those organisations and businesses involved in this visit, especially the growers and staff who gave up their time to host the inspector.
Top photo: Dr Yim speaks with CentralPac QC staff.