China's entry is different from that of the United States.

Biosafety and prohibited items in New Zealand

In early May this year, a letter caused panic in New Zealand, which I believe is still fresh in everyone's memory: the sender claimed to have released a bottle of foot-and-mouth disease virus on Waiheke Island (Rapids Island). Once the news was made public, in addition to the great concern of political and economic circles, some countries in the world immediately announced that they would stop importing New Zealand livestock products, and the New Zealand stock market and foreign exchange market also fell accordingly.

Although it proved to be a false alarm afterwards, the price New Zealand paid was real. In the press release of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, it is said that the investigation cost caused by this incident is as high as1.5-2 million New Zealand dollars; It is estimated that the direct economic loss caused by this letter is around10 million New Zealand dollars.

This shows that this anonymous letter hit the soft underbelly of New Zealand's national economy. As we all know, New Zealand is the only agricultural country in developed countries. By the end of 2004, statistics show that the export of meat products in New Zealand was 4.527 billion yuan. Dairy products were 5.8969 billion yuan; Other agricultural products were 2,647.36 million yuan; Forest products 332 1 10,000 yuan; Horticultural products reached 2.22 billion yuan. In other words, the export of agricultural, forestry, animal husbandry and horticultural products alone (NZD 654.38+085 billion 94.76 million) accounted for 64.82% of New Zealand's total export in 2004.

If livestock infectious diseases, such as foot-and-mouth disease, break out, it will cause a serious blow to New Zealand's national economy. According to reserve bank of new zealand's research report, the gross national product dropped by 6 billion yuan in the first year after the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, and it will reach 654.38+0 billion yuan in the second year; Meat exports fell by 80% within half a year, and it is difficult to fully recover within two years; Reduce 20,000 job opportunities; The exchange rate of the New Zealand dollar will rapidly fall by 30%, while inflation will shrink by 1.5%.

This result is directly related to the prevention and control measures of livestock infectious diseases. According to the procedure of international organization (OIE), in the area where the epidemic is found, in addition to inactivating, burning or burying all infected livestock, the area should be quarantined and monitored regularly, and the quarantine can only be announced when there is no such epidemic in one or two years. For crops and some infectious diseases that may cross-infect humans, FAO, WHO, WTO and other organizations and related institutions have formulated special treaties and regulations to prevent and control the spread and spread of animal and plant diseases. As a common control measure of animal and plant diseases in the world, if an animal and plant disease breaks out in a certain country or region, the livestock products and crops of that country will be banned from being imported by other countries before the quarantine is lifted. Foot-and-mouth disease broke out in Britain in 20001year, causing economic losses of 4 billion pounds (about1200 million New Zealand dollars).

It is conceivable that such a campaign is protracted and involves a lot of manpower, material resources and financial resources. New Zealand cannot afford to lose in such a campaign. Therefore, New Zealand has long established a set of preventive methods and measures to nip in the bud. For example, in the early 1990s, when many countries were still discussing biosafety, New Zealand enacted the Biosecurity Act (1993). The bill clearly stipulates: "Biosafety is to protect natural resources, material resources and human health through the isolation, eradication and effective management of harmful substances and organisms."

Careful readers will find that in this definition, biosafety is not limited to food safety, but also extends to natural resources and material resources. Indeed, New Zealand is also very proud of its natural ecosystem. New Zealand Island, which is alone in a corner, left the mainland earlier, and its animals, plants and ecosystems are unique in the earth's ecosystem and become valuable natural and historical heritage. Therefore, biosafety involves two aspects: nature and humanistic society. This paper mainly introduces the biological safety problems involved in humanistic society.

In order to prevent delays, New Zealand focuses on controlling exotic species and organisms. Guarding the country and preventing all dangerous species and diseases from entering is an important part of this control system.

It should be noted that not every country in the world has the ability and conditions to shut out exotic species, infectious diseases of crops/livestock and exotic creatures. Because it is an island country, New Zealand can do this; Because of its unique natural ecosystem and the important economic position occupied by agriculture, forestry and animal husbandry, it is necessary for New Zealand to do so.

In the aspect of biosafety enforcement, there are mainly two government agencies: the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) and the Environmental Risk Management Bureau (ERMA).

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry is the main executor of the Biosafety Law, responsible for controlling exotic pests and pests; The main enforcement basis of Environmental Hazardous Substances Administration (ERMA) is the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act (HSNO) promulgated by 1996. The main difference between the "organisms" involved in the two bills is that the "organisms" controlled by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry are those inadvertently or illegally introduced; On the other hand, ERMA examines and approves "new organisms" introduced in a planned way. In the amendment clause of HSNO in 2003, ERMA even transferred the enforcement right of the "organism" clause in the bill to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, and retained the supervision right.

According to the powers conferred by the Biosafety Law, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has offices at all entry points (airports, ports, mail centers, etc.). ), and send personnel to check the entry items and personnel.

The main inspection methods are as follows:

1) Check the entry registration card. At the port, it is the goods declaration form. Inspectors read the information on the registration card (declaration form) to preliminarily judge whether there are suspicious items;

2) sogou. Use trained search and rescue dogs to smell whether there are suspicious items in packages or passengers;

3) x-ray machine. Check packages, mail and other items.

4) Require unpacking (package) inspection.

For the treatment of prohibited items, there are roughly:

1) Give up on its own. At airports and ports, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has set up a garbage bin. If passengers realize that they have prohibited items, they can throw them away before entering the customs, and there will be no cost at this time.

2) declare items. Passengers declare that there are prohibited items on the registration card, and officials of the Agriculture and Forestry Department will seek passengers' opinions according to the types of items they bring. If passengers insist on bringing them into the country, they will be treated differently according to the types of goods. Such as uncooked food, will be heat-treated. The handling fee shall be borne by the passengers;

3) Undeclared items. If it is found that there are no prohibited items declared on the registration card, the carrier will face fines or even legal prosecution. An example is in front of us: In May this year 10, an international student from China in Hamilton was accused of bringing 5 kilograms of raw pork into the country, and was fined NZ $3,000 and NZ $260 for court and attorney's fees.

In practical work, it is found that due to the eating habits of Asians, carrying (airport) and sending (postal parcels) prohibited items account for more than half of all cases seized. Therefore, the inspection of goods of Asians and Asian countries is stricter than that of people and goods of other countries. This is why many people in China complain that we are always subject to much stricter inspection than others.

So, what items are we not allowed to carry or mail? When you enter from the airport, you have filled out a passenger entry card, and the instructions for filling out the card list in detail the items that are prohibited and need to be declared:

I. Animals and animal products

Live animals, pets, birds, fish and insects;

Raw and cooked meat and meat products;

Dairy products, including: cheese, milk, milk powder, cream and so on.

Eggs and egg products, including: egg powder, convenience food;

Fresh, dried and frozen fish and seafood;

Honey, pollen, beehive, beeswax;

Feathers, bones, fangs, fur, prey, animal specimens, etc. ;

Untreated wool and animal hair, including plush, carpets and clothing;

Coral, hawksbill, tortoise shell, ivory;

Shells;

Biological culture and organism

Second, plants and plant products.

Fresh, dried, frozen and cooked fruits and vegetables;

Raw and raw nuts;

Vanilla and spices;

Noodles and rice;

Fresh and dried mushrooms and fungi;

Fresh or dried plants, including plant cuttings. ;

Seeds, bulbs, corms, roots and tubers;

Any form of straw products;

Flowers, dried flowers and leaves;

Pine cones and white flowerpots or bottles;

Woodcarving and handicrafts;

Any form of bamboo products, rattan products, baskets, etc. ;

Soil and water

Third, other projects.

Camping, hiking and hunting supplies, shoes, bicycles, tents, sports shoes with nails;

Animal foods, medicines, supplements, cultures and biological products;

Clothing, shoes and toiletries for riding;

Equipment and clothing that have come into contact with livestock;

Freshwater fish utensils, bait, fake fly articles for fishing.

In addition, China people should pay special attention to the CITES article.

CITES stands for Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Animals and Plants. The convention was made to protect those rare animal and plant species. Due to the use of traditional Chinese medicine in China, many Chinese medicines contain animal and plant species listed in the convention, which makes them banned from entering the country. For example, our common Baoji pills, Dahuoluo pills, tiger bone wine, musk rheumatism ointment, American ginseng, hippocampus and so on. Sometimes, items brought as tourist souvenirs may also be included in CITES, such as coral and ivory carvings. If these items are not licensed, the carrier will be fined NZ $200,000 or imprisoned for five years or both.