I am not going to enter into extensive comment on Jim Fisher's postings to
the list (having said that, I probably will, but I'm not going to go through
point at a time...).  I would have to say that for a considerable number of
them, I either agree wholeheartedly or at least have a lot of sympathy for
the positions from which he expresses them.

Indeed, though Australia and New Zealand are being painted as a fissure-less
wall attempting to gain access through stealthy, speedy means, we do the
same things to each other, and have the same frustrations with international
trade and the international gamesmanship that accompanies it.

Western Australia, for instance, has applied on the basis of 'area freedom'
from EFB (it is present in the rest of Australia) for access for their honey
into NZ.  We, in that case, are dealing with their processes and our own,
trying to stop that from happening.

The point is that the arguments are required to be technical in nature.  We
can't oppose the WA honey on the basis of "it will probably be expensive",
or "it will wreck the orderly marketing of our own honeys".  Simply not
allowed to use those, even if we believe them to be true.  We (NZ
beekeepers) actually have some doubt that there *is* some honey
producer/seller who made the application that NZ is obliged to process and
deal with - we've got a feeling it might just be a principle someone is
trying to establish...  What I'm trying to say is that NZ *is* both
cognisant and sympathetic to arguments that say a country needs to maintain
as high a level of biosecurity as can be rationally argued.

But we are also continually reminded of the need to abide by accepted
standards of risk assessment and acceptance.  We (between ourselves and with
you) are not given the luxury of demanding no risk at all, however much we'd
like to be able to do that.  No, we do not plan to boil our queens before
shipping them to you...

This has not been a sneaky or quick process.  The call for submissions from
beekeepers on the proposal is *almost exactly* what happened about 5 years
ago.  After that, the US officials managed to push it quietly to the side
and refuse to deal with it again.  Fair enough!  I think the US beekeepers
should be *thanking* your officials for managing to effectively lose the
paperwork for that long, all the while NZ beekeepers fuming and smouldering
at the arrogance.  (And while I'm at it, I'll express thanks to our own
officials who have been doing that same dancing in one place routine for us
with the WA honey issue - take that, Aussies!) (That one is going to rebound
on me, I know...)

The process has been long, drawnout, and voluminous in paper.  I have waded
through risk analyses, reports and extensive surveillance and biosecurity
quantifications over the last 10 years.  I think it is wrong to paint this
as a nefarious conspriracy.

Nick Wallingford
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http://www.beekeeping.co.nz