Found this topic very interesting.
At the risk of repeating what alanmin4304 has already said, it seems that the new proposals will reduce costs with regards to many species:
Summary: New MAF Biosecurity NZ Import Health Standard For Ornamental Fish And Marine Invertebrates From All Countries: Draft 15-11-2010
• Quarantine period reduced from 6 weeks to 4 weeks for freshwater ornamental fish
should reduce costs
• Most of the additional pre-quarantine or quarantine measures for the newly defined ‘high risk’ freshwater ornamental species = testing of batches displaying signs of disease - which I presume has to be done under the current regulations anyway? No signs of disease = no testing required. And as before, if the importer can provide evidence as to an environmental cause for the health problems, diagnostic tests should not be required. Furthermore, if signs of disease are present, then specific tests for particular diseases based on specific symptoms will be carried out, rather than a full range of tests. To quote the draft: ‘Diagnostic efforts will be targeted appropriately, which will result in faster and more cost-efficient quarantine than the blanket enforcement of a broad range of compulsory diagnostic tests in the event of 20% mortality in any species’.
• Species which are negatively affected (i.e testing/treatment must be carried out whether or not there are signs of disease):
Livebearers
Poecilia latipinna (sailfin molly) - batch or source population testing for iridoviruses
Guppies, sailfin mollys, swordtails, platys - worming with praziquantel
Characids
Astyanax fasciatus (banded astyanax) & mexicanus (Mexican tetra/blind cave tetra) - worming with praziquantel
Cichlids
Apistogramma borellii, commbrae & pleurotaenia - batch or source population testing for iridoviruses
Herichthys cyanoguttatus (Texas cichlid) - worming with praziquantel
Cyprinids
Capoeta semifasciolatus (= Puntius semifasciolatus - would be good if MAF could get this one right; chinese/gold barb)
- batch or source population testing for viral haemorrhagic septicaemia virus (VHSV)
- worming with praziquantel
Puntius conchonius (rosy barb), denisonii (red line torpedo barb), gelius (golden dwarf barb) & ticto (ticto barb)
- batch or source population testing for viral haemorrhagic septicaemia virus (VHSV)
- worming with praziquantel
- nematode treatment using levamisole bath
Carassius auratus (goldfish)
- batch or source population testing for aquabirnaviruses, iridoviruses & Aeromonas salmonicida
- verifiable certification of continuous separation from Cyprinus carpio (common carp) species or batch or source population
testing for both cyprinid herpesvirus-3 (koi herpesvirus) & spring viraemia of carp virus
- worming with praziquantel
What is not specified in the draft is how many fish will need to be tested for a particular species if batch testing is required & obviously this will affect cost.
HTH,
Kerryn
