OIA23 037 Documents 210623.pdf

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CONTENTS
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Biosecurity ............................................................................................................................... 8
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Weekly Status Report 09 Hakihea (December)

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BIOSECURITY

Border Clearance Activities
Lead Minister: Minister O’Connor
Steve Gilbert, Central / South Regional Commissioner

Passenger Numbers – Operation Toro identified 1062 passengers this week ex Indonesia
(they would have all transitioned through Australia and are being picked up through voluntary
declaration and alert).
Infringements - In relation to the 92 infringements, only 11 were for meat products.
Cargo – Of the 16,485 container arrivals – 271 related to Indonesia. There were zero animal
or meat products. The remainder related to toilet tissue, tobacco, timber products and glass.

Weekly Status Report 09 Hakihea (December)

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CONTENTS

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Biosecurity ............................................................................................................................... 9
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Weekly Status Report 16 Hakihea (December)

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IN CONFIDENCE
BIOSECURITY

Border Clearance Activities
Lead Minister: Minister O’Connor
Steve Gilbert, Central / South Regional Commissioner

Weekly Status Report 16 Hakihea (December)

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IN CONFIDENCE

Passenger Numbers – Operation Toro identified 939 passengers this week ex Indonesia
(they would have all transitioned through Australia and are being picked up through voluntary
declaration and alert).
Infringements - In relation to the 103 infringements, only 15 were for meat products.
Cargo – Of the 17,076 container arrivals – 276 related to Indonesia. There were zero animal
or meat products. The remainder related to timber, manufactured wooden products, glass,
toilet tissue and tyres.

Weekly Status Report 16 Hakihea (December)

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Weekly Update on Auckland Airport Situation
Lead Minister: Minister O’Connor
Mike Inglis, North Regional Commissioner
The increase in international passenger arrivals in New Zealand has led to longer queue
times at the Auckland International Airport (AIAL) and MPI are working on options to help
passenger facilitation while not compromising biosecurity.
•
Mishandled Luggage: The volume of mishandled bags compared to pre-COVID-19
has significantly increased resulting in congestion in the baggage hall. For example, the
industry standard for mishandled luggage is six to eight per 1,000 passengers – Ground
Handlers at AIAL are currently dealing with some carriers where it is upwards of
200 items per 1,000 passengers. MPI is working with AIAL and Ground Handlers to
help process mishandled luggage, especially as the current air fuel issue will likely
compound these volumes. We have worked with AIAL to increase MPI bench/search
space by reconfiguring the luggage storage room. We have also changed the process
for ‘urgent’ bag searches to try and accommodate AIAL Handlers during busy periods.
•
Comms: Airlines are planning additional messaging to passengers regarding the
potential for delays to front foot expectations when they arrive in New Zealand.
•
Off Schedule Flights: Off schedule arrivals (53 percent) continue to impact MPI
operations. There is clear action from the cross-agency Working Group to improve off
schedule arrivals and better queue facilitation across peak times.
•
Express Lane: Over the past week, an average of 34 percent of passengers were
processed through express lane per day (~4000 per day). As of 11 December, 142,713
passengers have gone through the express lane.

•
Seizures: In the past week, seizures have been reported from 32 passengers in the
express lane; sandwich/burger (11), apple (8), banana (5), orange (3), cucumber (2),
carrot (1), cooked chicken (60g), prosciutto ham (1), a rose (1), and a mince pie (1).  Of
these, 24 passengers were infringed with the remaining given a verbal warning.
•
Performance: The average MPI processing performance for the previous week was
63 percent of passengers were processed in 16 minutes (target is 85 percent).
Weekly Status Report 16 Hakihea (December)

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Biosecurity ............................................................................................................................. 12
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Weekly Status Report 27 Kohitātea (January)

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IN CONFIDENCE

Passenger Numbers – Operation Toro identified 1,015 passengers this week ex Indonesia
(they would have all transitioned through Australia and are being picked up through voluntary
declaration and alert).
Infringements - In relation to the 140 infringements, only 21 were for meat products.
Cargo – Of the 14,037 container arrivals – 254 related to Indonesia. There were 0 animal or
meat products. The remainder related to toilet paper, homeware and timber.

Weekly Status Report 27 Kohitātea (January)

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Weekly Update on Auckland Airport Situation
Lead Minister: Minister O’Connor
Mike Inglis, North Regional Commissioner
The increase in international passenger arrivals in New Zealand and wider global system
issues has led to longer queue times and more mishandled baggage (MHB) at the
Auckland International Airport (AIAL).  Biosecurity New Zealand (BNZ) is continuing
to problem solve and make continuous deliberate changes to ensure system wide
improvements and a successful summer period for passengers whilst focussed on
biosecurity excellence.
1.
Passenger Numbers: The number of passengers for the week 15-22 January was on
average, 12,534 per day, slightly up from 12,040 passengers per day for the same
period last month.  Nationally passenger numbers in December 2021 were 15,030 and
in December 2022 were 500,949.
2.
Mishandled Baggage: The increasing volume of MHBs arriving at AIAL remains
problematic. This is mainly due to a failure by airlines to carry bags alongside
passengers. We are working with AIAL and ground handlers to help process MHB and
x-raying an average of 250 MHB per day and doing a full inspection for 93 of these.
Pre-COVID-19, we were x-raying around 100 MHB per day and a full inspection for 10
to 15 of these. Up to nine officers per day are now rostered to x-ray MHB (pre-COVID-
19, this was one officer per day) and we have provided one dedicated officer and one
OCS staff member to work full-time at the Baggage Tracing Unit Monday to Friday. We
are also working with Airlines/AIAL on the process to dispose of over 90 abandoned
MHB.
3.
Jetstar Meeting: Mike Inglis met with Jetstar Senior Leadership on 17 January.
Jetstar stated they are working on process improvement regarding MHB as this is not
well documented as well as looking at technological options (i.e. QR codes) to
streamline processing.  They were clear at meeting they would be held accountable for
their improvement in this space.
4.
RAT Kits: On 4 January 2023, the Minister for COVID-19 Response announced
enhanced arrangements for passengers on direct flights from mainland China, Hong
Kong, and Macau.  BNZ’s involvement is limited to work with OCS to distribute RAT
kits (and Welcome Pack) to passengers on flights from China for an initial four-week
period from 20 January (over this period there are 95 direct commercial passenger
flights planned, with an estimated 7,175 passengers per week).On 20 January (day
one), BNZ successfully commenced enhanced RAT kit distribution with an 89 percent
uptake rate (258 of the 291 passengers took the kits voluntarily).  It takes about one
hour per flight for one Quarantine Officer supported by two OCS staff to manage this
process.
5.
On Time Performance (OTP): The percentage of flights that arrive on time continues
to remain low at around 47 percent causing ongoing operational system issues.  The
daily inter-agency meetings are having a positive effect and have influenced better
data sharing (and quality) to focus on actual arrivals (not planned and off-schedule), so
resourcing can be more deliberately deployed.  This now forms part of a leadership
structure to ensure clear lines of accountability and decision making (Airport Operation
Centre).
6.
Express Lane: Over the past week, an average of 34 percent of passengers (pax)
were processed through express lane per day (~4250 per day).
Weekly Status Report 27 Kohitātea (January)

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7. MPI Performance: Despite a significant increase in passenger numbers, the average
MPI processing performance from the same period last month has improved from 63
percent to 65 percent of passengers being processed in 16 minutes (target is 85
percent).

NB: On Time Performance is calculated as flights arriving on blocks within +/-15 minutes of
the scheduled arrival slot

Weekly Status Report 27 Kohitātea (January)

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IN CONFIDENCE
CONTENTS
Out of Scope
Biosecurity ............................................................................................................................. 11
Out of Scope

Weekly Status Report 02 Hakihea (December)

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IN CONFIDENCE

Passenger Numbers – Operation Toro identified 989 passengers this week ex Indonesia (they
would have all transitioned through Australia and are being picked up through voluntary
declaration and alert).
Infringements - In relation to the 111 infringements, only 17 were for meat products.
Cargo – Of the 17,038 container arrivals – 379 related to Indonesia. There were 0 animal or
meat products. The remainder related to manufactured wooden products, glass, homeware
and timber.

Weekly Status Report 02 Hakihea (December)

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