RBC – ArborGen Greenhouse Approved for L3 Quarantine

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

Rubicon announces ArborGen Greenhouse Receives Approval to
Operate as Level 3 Quarantine Facility

Approval will accelerate importation of new plant varieties for New Zealand Horticulture Growers
2 July 2019 – 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.

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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.