Hungry Bug Raises Stink in New Zealand Import Market

New Zealand’s imports of new and used Asian vehicles are brought to a screeching halt by a tiny bug.

The industry says vehicle supply is expected to come under pressure, initially after three car carriers were ordered out of New Zealand waters and a fourth vessel voluntarily diverted because of the would-be invasion of the brown marmorated stink bug.

New Zealand Customs says in a statement Armacup’s Tokyo Car, Mitsui OSK Line’s Courageous Ace and Toyofuji’s Sepang Express were ordered to leave New Zealand, while Mitsui OSK Line’s Glovis Caravel was turned away after an at-sea inspection found the stink bugs on board.

The ships are carrying more than 6,000 vehicles.

Motor Industry Assn. CEO David Crawford says he was told seven vessels, all from Asia, have been affected.

“(They are from) Japan in the main, but also stops between the seven vessels in Singapore, China and South Korea,” he tells WardsAuto in an email.

The half-inch bugs could cause hundreds of millions of dollars of damage to the New Zealand agricultural economy if they made it ashore. Authorities say the vehicles and ships will have to be fumigated before being allowed to return to the country.

The blockade will cause delays in replenishing stock, Crawford says.

“Consequently, it may cause delays in supplying new vehicles to customers if some models become supply-constrained due to shipping delays,” he says.

The MIA, Vehicle Importers Assn. representing used-vehicle importers, ports officials, shipping and transport companies, compliance agencies, logistics operators and the Ministry for Primary Industries held an emergency summit to decide on a way forward.

Brown marmorated stink bug.

“New Zealand’s priority remains protecting our biosecurity, which the MIA supports,” Crawford says. “No one wants to be the inadvertent cause for the importation of an unwanted pest.”

Horticulture New Zealand President Julian Raine says New Zealand’s daily supply of about 1,800 tons of fruit and vegetables is at risk from the stink bug “which has a host range of about 300 plant species and can mate up to five times a day.”

The stink bug is a 0.5- by 0.625-in. (13- by 16-mm) shield-shaped insect that uses its piercing mouthparts to suck plant juices from fruits, seed pods and nuts. It was accidentally brought to North America from Asia sometime before 1996.

Federated Farmers say once the vessels were found to have more than 100 stink bugs and as no port in New Zealand has the capacity to fumigate the ship, it was rerouted to Australia. There are reports the Australians also will not allow the infested ships to enter.

“That ship and its cargo should not be allowed anywhere near our shoreline until we have assurances that it is comprehensively fumigated with all the marmorated stink bugs destroyed,” Federated Farmers’ Biosecurity spokesman Guy Wigley says in a statement.

Short-term options include the use of a gas fumigant to apply to the outside of vehicles, but the best fumigant option is not authorized for use in New Zealand. It would require government approval under emergency powers in the country’s hazardous and new organisms legislation.

Mazda marketing-services manager Maria Tsao says the company is waiting to hear the outcome of when its shipment will finally be cleared to land.

“We hold a reasonable amount of vehicle stock which the dealers can draw upon, so this delay is more likely to affect our March sales rather than our February sales,” Tsao says.

New Zealand relies on vehicle imports for its fleet. Statistics New Zealand data shows 274,262 new and used vehicles arrived last year valued at about NZ$4.5 billion ($3.3 billion).