FEDERATED FARMERS FOOD SAFETY
SPOKESMAN ANDREW HOGGARD
FEDERATED FARMERS FOOD SAFETY
SPOKESMAN ANDREW HOGGARD
”A recent member’s bill which seeks to
introduce harsher penalties and offences is
good to see, but any action from it will have
to be funded and resourced adequately to
have any real impact. The bill comes in the
wake of last year’s Australian strawberry
needle scare which triggered copycat offences
here and back over the ditch. Thousands of
strawberries had to be destroyed as needles
started showing up in the fruit across stores.
The needle scares crushed spirits and trust.
However, this is not New Zealand’s first
rodeo when it comes to deliberate food
contamination. In 2016, Jeremy Hamish Kerr
was sentenced to eight and a half years
for threatening to spike baby formula with
1080. At the time of sentencing the New
Zealand Herald reported the crime cost the
country more than $37 million. Deliberate
food contamination, or threats of it, hurt the
country’s ability to exist. Our country is built
on and relies on primary industries to keep
the current living standards we all enjoy. We
need to be able to trade products safely. Our
trading partners need to be able to rely on
us. Any threats and attacks on our nation’s
ability to function must be treated as what
they are - acts of treason, piracy, espionage
and corruption. You do not deliberately
contaminate food without wanting to cause
terror. These are deliberate acts designed
to cause incredible anxiety and economic
sabotage. Whatever comes of Mr Guy’s bill
one thing is certain - if tougher penalties
are to be introduced they must be backed
with resourcing. There’s no point in waving a
flag about an issue and then not resourcing
organisations such as the police, the judiciary
or the Ministry for Primary Industries to follow
through with enforcement. Politicians at
all levels are great at talking about harsher
penalties and regulations, but are very relaxed
about the details on how those processes will
work and how they’ll be funded.”
HORTICULTURE NZ CHIEF
EXECUTIVE MIKE CHAPMAN
“Intentional food contamination by individuals
may be funny to some, but somebody’s
‘joke’ can cause economic, physical and
psychological damage to food producers.
Recently, we have seen some incidents of
intentional contamination of fruit in both
Australia and New Zealand, and people need
to understand the full and serious implications
of such sabotage. People may think they are
being funny but in fact, they could damage the
international reputation of New Zealand as a
source of safe food, affecting our trade and
consequently, the country’s balance sheet.
They can also cause economic, physical and
psychological damage to food producers who
may have to destroy crops, lay off staff and
deal with reputational damage. There could
be food shortages, and there are certainly
impacts on consumers, particularly those who
are on the receiving end of any deliberate
contamination and the stress that might cause
them. We believe there should be stricter
penalties to act as a deterrent to people
thinking about contaminating food, so that
they know they are facing a long stint in prison
if they do this. A woman in Australia faces a
maximum of 10 years in prison, if convicted,
for charges of goods contamination after
needles were found in strawberries there. We
would like to see people convicted for similar
crimes in New Zealand face similar sentences.
New Zealand food producers have many
systems and processes in place to ensure they
provide safe food, and spend a lot of time and
money meeting all the requirements to do that.
If their food is sabotaged once it leaves their
business, they can rightly expect that to be
treated as a crime, and punished in proportion
to the serious impacts.”
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