ExportNZ says Zespri kiwifruit that tested positive for Covid-19 was likely infected in China.
The positive result came during routine sample testing by Chinese officials, but all further tests have since come back negative.
The fruit was packed in the Bay of Plenty in May and shipped from Tauranga in August, where there was no Covid-19 community transmission.
It was also disinfected and tested on arrival in China.
ExportNZ executive director Catherine Beard told Heather du Plessis-Allan it sounds like it came from somewhere in the distribution channel.
“Probably someone who had Covid has coughed on some fruit or something, because it sounds like it was quite a small sample as well.”
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