The staff recently graduated at a ceremony at Auckland and includes forty quarantine officers and seven fisheries officers.

The new quarantine officers will work at the border to halt risk goods that have the potential to carry pests or diseases, says Steve Gilbert, MPI's Border Clearance Director.

The new appointments follow nearly seven weeks of operational training, including an eighteen-day stint at the Burham military camp, near Christchurch. “All MPI frontline roles require dedication, camaraderie and discipline – so the military camp is an important part of the training.”

He says MPI expects to employ nearly ninety new frontline border staff by the end of the year. “We're anticipating a busy summer. It looks like there will be record numbers of visitors arriving in New Zealand and we’re very conscious of the increasing fruit fly threat from Australia and parts of the Pacific.”