Bringing hops into NZ?

[Ben Dean]

Hi, first post here.

I will be visiting family in the UK over Christmas and want to bring back some packs of First Gold pellets with me (I can't find them for sale anywhere in NZ). I have searched on google but can't find any info on what the rules are, does anyone know if you are allowed to bring vacuum packed hops into NZ?

Cheers

Ben

[Smiffy]

I brought 5kg in last August.

They have to be processed so as to be non-viable as plants, and the processing  needs to be documented, so I had the label on the bag which said "T90 hop pellets"  and a document that I got from the supplier which was the industry standard describing what T90  meant. (document attached)  Most importantly I had emailed MAF to ask them,

Quarantine_Enquiry (at) mpi (dot) govt (dot) nz

and also had printed out the response from them, and by pure co-incidence, the person I dealt with at the airport was the same person who had replied to my email.

The official words were "Commercially packaged, pelletised, hops must be accompanied by a manufacturer's certificate stating that the hop product has been milled, and extruded into pellets or inspected to confirm they have been milled and pelleted."

One thing she said was that the regulations do change, so to check again before doing it again.

[Ben Dean]

Thanks for your reply Smiffy, much appreciated. I'll email MAF for the latest regulations.

[Peter Smith]

Who are you buying off?   I have looked at Niko and Yakima Valley but will wait until the new season comes in.  Prices look good if you join up with others and order 10 pounds etc