Source: Auckland Council
With no further fruit flies found in the Mt Roskill area, Biosecurity New Zealand has lifted restrictions on the movement of fruit and vegetables in the area. Biosecurity New Zealand, the biosecurity arm of the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), announced the update today.
Dr Imogen Bassett, Head of Natural Environment Specialist Services, commends the community for stepping up to help protect our natural environment and economy from this unwanted pest.
“It’s great to hear that Biosecurity New Zealand is confident that it can lift all restrictions in Mt Roskill. A huge thank you to the Mt Roskill community – households, schools, businesses and market-stall holders – for sharing information and following the restrictions carefully,” says Dr Bassett.
“The actions that the community take are essential to the success of these responses and keeping unwanted pests like the Queensland fruit fly out of New Zealand.”
Take full advantage of your food scraps
This means that normal kerbside collections will resume at the end of February, the affected area’s first normal collection being 27 February, and the return of food scraps collections for Zone A.
Make sure to give your food scraps collection a try, if you haven’t already, and join thousands of Aucklanders who have already helped turn over 60 million kgs of food scraps into clean energy. Here’s some summer tips to beat the heat.
Remember, you can also request an additional food scraps bin for free, or request to have a broken or stolen bin replaced, by contacting us.
A successful operation
Biosecurity New Zealand responded quickly to the detection of a single male Queensland fruit fly in a surveillance trap in Mt Roskill, Auckland on 7 January 2026. A response team immediately ramped up trapping and inspection, getting on the ground to share information with those in the area.
Additional fruit fly lure traps were set within a 1,500-metre area of the original find to determine if other flies were present, and a Controlled Area Notice was put in place, restricting the movement of fruit and vegetables in the area.
Biosecurity New Zealand has successfully eradicated 14 (now 15) previous fruit fly incursions in New Zealand and was confident the same could be done in Mt Roskill.
When announcing the closure, Biosecurity New Zealand expressed gratitude for the actions people took to comply with the restrictions, which were vital in preventing the fruit fly from establishing in New Zealand.
The response timeframe was based on scientific advice about the life cycle of the Queensland fruit fly and helped Biosecurity New Zealand to be confident that there was no breeding population.
While restrictions are lifted, stay vigilant. If you think you’ve spotted a Queensland fruit fly, eggs, or larvae/maggots in your fruit, call Biosecurity New Zealand (MPI) right away at 0800 80 99 66.
More information about what to look out for is available on MPI’s website.
MPI will continue as normal to check the 7,800 fruit fly traps around the country, including more than 4,600 in the Auckland area.
