The Quarantine Service

A regular part of the duties of the staff of the Quarantine Service is cooperation with the Customs officers who work in the Post Office. Monitoring the declarations on parcels from all over the world, Customs keep an eye open for anything that might interest Quarantine, and several mornings a week a Quarantine Officer spends time at the Post Office checking through mail which has been put to one side.

Here we see Cyril Evans, the Hamilton representative of the Quarantine Service, inspecting a parcel.' One large parcel checked recently contained seeds imported by a local nursery. The nursery had done this quite legally, obtaining the necessary permits and ensuring that clearance certificates from the exporter were attached. But the standard set by the foreign clearance official was not high enough in the case of one type of seed; this showed extensive insect damage and was contaminated by a fungus.

New Zealand also exports seeds, and Cyril is involved in the certification processes for these commodities, making sure they are disease-free before they leave the country.

Cryil Evans, MAF Agricultural Quarantine Officer.