Approval will accelerate importation of new plant varieties for New Zealand Horticulture Growers

AUCKLAND, New Zealand--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Rubicon announced today that its wholly owned subsidiary, ArborGen Inc (“ArborGen”), had received approval from the Ministry of Primary industries (“MPI”) to operate its post-entry quarantine greenhouse facility in Te Teko, New Zealand at Level 3. This is the first privately-owned facility in the country to receive this level of accreditation. Receipt of the approval will expand ArborGen’s ability to expand its business with the New Zealand horticultural industry to import new, high performing plant varieties into the country.

ArborGen Australasia General Manager Greg Mann said, “A lack of quarantine capacity has been a major barrier for New Zealand fruit companies seeking to import and commercialise new genetics and innovative plant varieties. This newly approved Level 3 quarantine greenhouse capacity will complement our existing Level 3 Tissue Culture laboratory and assist in achieving New Zealand’s goal for increasing horticultural exports.”

Quarantine is the process of inspection, testing, and surveillance of new plant material as it crosses the border into New Zealand. Material is securely held and tested for six to nine months before receiving approval to be released to commercial growers. This approval was received after a comprehensive review by MPI of ArborGen’s greenhouse facility, personnel, and operating procedures

ArborGen is the world’s largest producer and seller of improved genetics planting material for forest owners, growing more than 400 million seedlings in the south-eastern United States, Brazil, New Zealand, and Australia. The company owns six nurseries in Australasia.

Mr. Mann said, “Forestry is our core business, but we can use the assets and plant-growing skills we have to grow a range of high-value horticultural species such as hops, blueberries and strawberries. We have been working with horticultural companies for some time to the extent regulations have allowed, but this new Level 3 quarantine accreditation from MPI now means that we can offer New Zealand importers a one-stop shop, doing everything from providing quarantine services, true to type testing, maintaining parental stock and ultimately, producing plants for growers, all on one secure site.”

ArborGen

ArborGen is the largest global supplier of tree seedling products and the leading provider of advanced genetics for the forest industry. Employing state-of-the-art research, ArborGen is developing high-value products that significantly improve the productivity of a given acre of land by enabling our customers to grow trees that yield more wood per acre with greater consistency and quality in a shorter period of time. For more information, please visit our website at www.arborgen.co.nz.

Contacts

Greg Mann General Manager ArborGen Australasia 021 871 814 Greg.mann@arborgen.co.nz