Calls for better checks on incoming travellers

'Do whatever you can' is the plea from farmers as officials hunt for more Queensland fruit flies.

The discovery of one male fruit fly in Auckland this week has put the horticulture industry on edge.

It's worth billions of dollars to the economy every year.

Federated Farmers has joined calls for better checks on incoming travellers as the hunt for more Queensland fruit flies continues.

So far only one has been found but it's such a dangerous pest a full-scale response is underway.

The horticultural industry stands to lose a fortune.

Federated Farmers Vice President William Rolleston says New Zealand is a trading nation, and we can't make the border 100 percent watertight.

"But we do need to re-examine where we're at, we need to make sure we have the best system that we possibly can have and we'll certainly be asking those questions."

He says there's too much to lose, and everything that can be done, must be done.

"We really want MAF to be decisive and get on with it and they appear to be doing that and we give them full support for that."

He says once we get on top of this incursion, there needs to a closer look at passenger entry at the border.

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