NZ better prepared to deal with WMD trafficking

Customs Minister Nicky Wagner says New Zealand and its Asia Pacific neighbours are better prepared to respond to a potential threat from the trafficking of weapons of mass destruction as a result of this week’s successful exercise.

Twenty one Asia-Pacific countries met in Wellington for Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) Exercise Maru this week, to discuss and test systems, and learn more about how they would respond to a proliferation event.

“I enjoyed the opportunity to see first-hand some of New Zealand’s counter-proliferation capabilities at CentrePort. Although we’d like to think that acts of terrorism wouldn’t happen in our backyard we have to remember no country is immune from the threat of dangerous weapons,” Ms Wagner says.

The exercise concluded on Thursday with some of New Zealand’s counter-proliferation capabilities from Customs, the Fire Service, and the New Zealand Defence Force’s Explosives Ordnance Disposal squadron on display.

“The Asia Pacific region is an important trading hub and is home to many leading producers of legitimate goods that could be used to make weapons of mass destruction, such as chemicals in cleaning agents and medical products. It’s important that countries and agencies work together to be vigilant against any threat.

"Exercise Maru has been a successful test of New Zealand's and the Asia Pacific’s capability to work together and respond to a potential proliferation threat,” Ms Wagner says.