'Redundancies will be coming' thanks to stink bug biosecurity

Wednesday, 28 February 2018

Problems with car imports are starting to cut into people's pay.

People are losing their jobs because of stink-bug delays to car shipments.

The flow of cars coming in to New Zealand has been so disrupted that technicians and compliance checkers are being asked to take holidays, have had their hours cut back, and in some cases been laid off because there's a shortage for them to do at the dealership, an industry heavyweight says.

The stink bug could cost New Zealand $4.2b in export value by 2038 if it is introduced.

Imported Motor Vehicle Industry Association chief executive David Vincent said the Ministry of Primary Industry's stricter policies on biosecurity system were working, but at serious cost to industry.

Vincent said the discovery of stink bugs on four shipping vessels had the ships travelling from Auckland to Brisbane and Noumea to get fumigated and back again, and has been 'hammering' local car dealerships. But if the bugs get into the country they could cost growers billions in damaged crops.

* Stink bug infested ships back to Auckland, where they're running out of cars

* Forestry industry say talks vital with trade partners over alternative fumigant**

'We bring in 6000 cars a week, new and used, and we've got 20,000 cars probably sitting there in Japan, so we're going to have an absolute gap at the moment and then a real glut later on.

'We don't know yet how much all this will cost, the shipping companies will be paying for it but then there will be insurance claims and that will be all sorts of discussions, I imagine, over who's paying for both the delay and the process.'

Vincent said, worse than affecting bottom lines, the lack of new stock was affecting jobs.

'People are getting put on short time and laid off and that sort of thing.

'Technicians and compliance-checkers are being asked to take their holidays or work one day a week.'

Fasttrack Automotive Compliance director Peter Johnson said redundancies were certain in his 10,000-worker sector.

'I know of some shops that have sent their staff home and said they can't pay them.'

Johnson said his 70 employees were safe from losing their jobs but it was a move that would cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars.

'It's been 10 days going on two weeks with no supply of cars and it's putting huge pressure now on the industry as a whole, from the ports, to the trucking companies, and the compliance shops.'

He said while the industry agreed with making biosecurity a priority, MPI could be handling contaminated ships better.

Johnson said, because of strict biosecurity rules, importers were often deciding not to send ships back to Japan to be reloaded with cars, which could send the price of cars up 10 to 20 per cent.

An Auckland used car dealer, who did not want to be named, estimated the to-and-froing was costing shipping companies millions.

'No one's given me a date to expect my cars, because they have no idea if and when they'll make it here.'

The Auckland car dealer said five of his last shipments were sent away by MPI because stink bugs were found on board. He said one was docked in Auckland awaiting a second round of biosecurity checks.

MPI maintains the cost of the extra biosecurity is being primarily paid for by industry.

Heat treatment facilities were recently set up at Auckland Port. The facilities will test 20 per cent of the cargo from low-risk ships that have been fumigated. Heat treatment could take 20 to 30 days per ship, and could take longer as docking priority would be given to 'non-high-risk vessels', according to new MPI policies.

MPI's new biosecurity practices are focused on Japanese imports. It is the middle of 'peak' stink bug season for the ministry, which finishes around April.

The ministry's biosecurity division require vessels carrying used vehicles out of Japan to certify that vehicles were cleaned but does not require shipments to be fogged.

A spokesman said there were fumigation requirements on ships leaving the US and Italy, but the ministry was looking at a new initiative to have fogging occur before ships leave Japan.

The stink bug often burrows into dark enclosed spaces on ship wharves to hibernate during the winter months in the northern hemisphere which means the bugs come out of hibernation when the shipping barge crosses the equator.

With 600 dead bugs found aboard the Glovis Caravel and 12 live ones, the ship was turned away on Tuesday a second time from New Zealand.

Plans are being finalised to fog the Glovis Caravel out at sea.

An unreleased report by NZIER funded by Horticulture New Zealand, found if the bug infiltrated the country it would cause $4.2 billion in damages to horticulture export value by 2038.