The powers contained in the Destructive Insects and Pests Acts enable measures to be taken to prevent the introduction and spread in this country of the many plant diseases and pests which are prevalent in other countries, but from which we are in most cases free. Under the Acts powers are given to control the importation of trees, plants, bulbs and similar produce which might be the means of bringing pests and diseases here and also to control the importation of the insects and pests themselves.
Some countries have in recent years attempted to eradicate insects destructive to crops by bringing in other insects to prey on them. It is unnecessary for me to point out that in such cases the primary consideration is to ensure that the predatory insects thus introduced do not become a greater danger to crops or to beneficial native insects than is the pest which they are intended to destroy.
The question of the control of pests and diseases, while of vital importance to each country, is also the common concern of all nations. This country shares in international measures for such control through its membership of the European Plant Protection Organisation and one of the measures which that body has recommended member countries to adopt, if they have not already done so, is to regulate the introduction of biological agents for the control of plant pests.
The immediate cause of the European Plant Protection Organisation's recommendation regarding such control arose from the fact that the authorities in Jugo Slavia proposed to introduce six species of insect from North America in the hope that they would prey on and eradicate the Fall Webworm an insect of which we are thankfully free, but which in Jugo Slavia was causing great destruction to mulberry, fruit, and other trees and bushes. One of the insects proposed to be introduced might, it was considered, also prove a danger to the silkworm. If this were the case great damage could well be done to the silk industries of continental Europe, as control of the migration of the insect could present insuperable problems. The Jugo Slavian authorities were conscious of this and very properly notified the European Plant Protection Organisation of their proposals, as a result of which the recommendation mentioned was made.
It may be thought that happenings in Jugo Slavia are so remote as not to be any concern to this country and, indeed, there is no immediate prospect of any deliberate introduction of predatory insects into this country for the purpose of biological control. It is none the less a sensible precaution to have powers to control such introductions. Another reason why such control is necessary is that countries to which we export produce such as potatoes, may require certificates to the effect that predatory insects do not exist in this country and that we have taken adequate steps to see that they are not introduced. It is for these reasons that this short Bill contains provision to regulate the introduction of agents for the biological control of plant pests.
The earlier Destructive Insects and Pests Acts have been in operation for a very considerable time and as a consequence various powers are prescribed to be exercised under them by bodies, such as boards of guardians, etc., which have long ceased to exist. These responsibilities were transferred to my Department, which is their proper location by the 1929 Act. That Act did not, however, formally relieve the local bodies of similar responsibilities and it is to eliminate this duality of function that the further sections of this Bill are designed. When the conflicting and obsolete provision of the earlier Act are removed simplicity of administration should result and the introduction of consolidating legislation to replace the various Acts relating to destructive insects and pests, which it is proposed to initiate at a later date, should be facilitated.
