Cabinet has decided to legalise the spread of the killer rabbit virus - RCD.
The Minister for Biosecurity, Simon Upton, says now the rabbit calicivirus disease (RCD) is present in New Zealand, the Government has to face reality and allow farmers to spread the disease.
Last week Cabinet considered the situation but called for urgent reports for today's meeting on how the virus should be managed in the future.
Now Mr Upton says the Government has decided to pass regulations to clarify the legality of spreading RCD which was classified as an unwanted organism. There have been conflicting views of whether it was legal to spread RCD once it was illegally imported into the country.
The regulations will not be retrospective and the Government has indicated that it still considers the importation of RCD as a serious breach of law that should be punished.
It is unlikely that farmers who had spread the disease, once it was here, will be charged with any offence, due to the public announcement by MAF officials that it was not against the law.
The Department of Conservation is being asked to handle the problem of predators switching from rabbits to endangered native wildlife.
MAF officials will continue to gather more information about the virus. Areas identified for immediate research include characterising the virus and testing its virulence, so that its effectiveness can be determined.
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