Kiwifruit growers claim victory in High Court Psa case獼猴桃種植者在高等法院Psa案中獲勝

獼猴桃品種SunGold取代了命運多舛的Hort16A，后者對Psa非常敏感。

▲golden kiwi growing zone

Kiwifruit growers affected by the damaging Psa disease are claiming victory following a High Court ruling that the Crown was negligent and breached its duty of care.

受破壞性Psa疾病影響的獼猴桃種植者聲稱，在高等法院裁定官方玩忽職守并違反其注意義務(wù)后，他們?nèi)〉昧藙倮?/p>

▲sungold kiwi growing zone

Growers who joined the class action are claiming $450 million compensation, higher than the figure ($376.4m) the 212 growers were earlier claiming.

參加集體訴訟的種植者要求賠償4.5億美元，高于212名種植者早些時候要求的3.764億美元。

"This is a landmark decision and we hope it draws a line in the sand for what has been a very long and difficult eight years for growers," Kiwifruit Claim committee member Grant Eynon said.

獼猴桃索賠委員會成員格蘭特·埃農(nóng)說：“這是一個里程碑式的決定，我們希望它能為種植者漫長而艱難的八年劃下一條界線?！?。

▲陽光金果獼猴桃果園

The claim followed an outbreak of the Psa disease in November 2010. The disease quickly spread and caused widespread damage to the kiwifruit industry. A compensation package put together by the industry and Government came to an end when the strategy of aggressive containment was unsuccessful.

這一說法是在2010年11月Psa病爆發(fā)后提出的。該病迅速蔓延，對獼猴桃產(chǎn)業(yè)造成廣泛損害。當激進遏制戰(zhàn)略不成功時，該行業(yè)和政府制定的補償方案宣告結(jié)束。

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Seeka Kiwifruit head Michael Franks says he is disappointed the decision does not cover packing operations, but as a grower the company should benefit.

Seeka獼猴桃公司負責(zé)人邁克爾·弗蘭克斯說，他對該決定不包括包裝操作感到失望，但作為一個種植者，該公司應(yīng)該受益。

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The Crown has 20 days to appeal the decision. In a statement the Ministry for Primary Industries said the decision to appeal would be made by the Solicitor-General, not MPI.

官方有20天時間對該決定提出上訴。第一產(chǎn)業(yè)部在一份聲明中表示，上訴決定將由副檢察長而不是MPI做出。

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So far the case had cost "many millions" for the claimants, and the Crown has spent about $3m to date.

到目前為止，這起案件已經(jīng)花費了索賠人“數(shù)百萬美元”，到目前為止王室已經(jīng)花費了大約300萬美元。

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Justice Jillian Mallon ?ruled the Ministry of Agriculture (now Ministry for Primary Industries) owed a duty of care to kiwifruit growers because it had responsibility for controlling what goods could be imported into New Zealand.

吉利安·馬隆法官?裁定農(nóng)業(yè)部（現(xiàn)為第一產(chǎn)業(yè)部）對獼猴桃種植者負有注意義務(wù)，因為它有責(zé)任控制哪些商品可以進口到新西蘭。

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She found that MAF had breached its duty of care when deciding whether to grant import permits for kiwifruit pollen.

她發(fā)現(xiàn)，MAF在決定是否發(fā)放獼猴桃花粉進口許可證時違反了其注意義務(wù)。

▲zespri kiwifruit

Justice Jillian Mallon also found that the claimants had proven on the balance of probabilities that the consignment of anthers containing pollen was the cause of the outbreak.

吉利安·馬隆法官還發(fā)現(xiàn)，索賠人根據(jù)概率平衡證明，寄售的含有花粉的花藥是爆發(fā)的原因。

The Crown had argued the claimants did not have a case because the way in which the disease entered New Zealand was unknown.

英國政府辯稱，索賠人沒有案件，因為疾病進入新西蘭的方式不詳。

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The court ruled MAF did not owe a duty of care to Seeka Kiwifruit Industries, which is a grower and packer.

法院裁定MAF對Seeka Kiwifruit Industries不負有注意義務(wù)，該公司是一家種植者和包裝商。

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"Post-harvest operators were one step removed from the direct harm suffered by growers. They suffered financial losses because of contractual arrangements with those who suffered direct harm," the ruling said.

裁決說：“收獲后的經(jīng)營者從種植者遭受的直接傷害中解脫了一步。他們因為與遭受直接傷害者的合同安排而遭受經(jīng)濟損失?！?。

▲陽光金果g3獼猴桃

However Seeka is also the largest kiwifruit grower in the country and from that point of view benefits from the decision.

然而，Seeka也是該國最大的獼猴桃種植者，從這個角度來看，它從這一決定中受益。

▲rubyred 寶石紅獼猴桃

"While Seeka is disappointed by the decision in relation to the post-harvest losses, it confirms that it is a claimant alongside the growers and set to benefit in any final determination of damages," chief executive Michael Franks said.

首席執(zhí)行官邁克爾·弗蘭克斯（Michael Franks）說：“雖然Seeka對有關(guān)收獲后損失的決定感到失望，但它確認，它是與種植者一起提出索賠的人，并將在最終確定損失時受益?！薄?/p>

▲紅心獼猴桃▲

Seeka earlier told the court it was forced to make 64 staff redundant at a cost of $2.1 million, saw its share price plummet and lost $1.8m on sales that fell through following the arrival of the devastating Psa disease in 2010.

Seeka早些時候告訴法庭，它被迫以210萬美元的代價裁減了64名員工，股價暴跌，在2010年發(fā)生毀滅性的Psa疾病后，銷售額下降，損失了180萬美元。

▲佳沛黃心獼猴桃

The claimants said officials of the former Ministry of Agriculture had allowed Te Puke company Kiwi Pollen to import kiwifruit pollen for the first time in April 2007, through to 2010.

索賠人說，前農(nóng)業(yè)部官員于2007年4月至2010年首次允許Te Puke公司獼猴桃花粉進口獼猴桃花粉。

▲sungold kiwi orchard

They argued the officials should have undertaken a formal risk analysis for the imports, given that kiwifruit pollen had not been brought into New Zealand before then. Officials had also failed to inform the kiwifruit industry about the imports.

他們辯稱，鑒于獼猴桃花粉在此之前從未被帶入新西蘭，官員們應(yīng)該對進口進行正式的風(fēng)險分析。官員們也沒有向獼猴桃產(chǎn)業(yè)通報進口情況。

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According to the claim plaintiffs, MAF officials owed them a "duty to exercise reasonable skill and care when undertaking their responsibilities in relation to biosecurity", but they had failed to exercise this skill and care.

根據(jù)原告的說法，MAF官員對他們負有“在履行與生物安全相關(guān)的責(zé)任時行使合理技能和謹慎的義務(wù)”，但他們沒有行使這一技能和謹慎。

▲zespri kiwi propaganda

The 212 growers represent 32 per cent of the total 2009-10 gold kiwifruit crop and 13 per cent of the green crop. There are about 2500 commercial kiwifruit growers in the country.

212名種植者占2009-2010年黃金獼猴桃總產(chǎn)量的32%，占綠色作物的13%。該國約有2500名商業(yè)獼猴桃種植者。

▲redKiwi sapling▲

The class action has been run by litigation funder the LPF Group chaired by former Supreme Court judge Bill Wilson.

該集體訴訟由前最高法院法官比爾·威爾遜（Bill Wilson）擔任主席的訴訟資助者LPF集團管理。

▲golden g3 kiwifruit

As a funder of the class action, LPF Group will receive a percentage of the compensation granted.

作為集體訴訟的出資人，LPF集團將獲得一定比例的賠償。

▲Kiwi pollination▲

When the claim was first filed in 2014, the then-chief executive of New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers Incorporated (NZKGI), Mike Chapman said if the claim was successful, growers would get what was left after all legal costs and the 20 to 25 per cent success fee has been deducted – "the bigger the claim, the bigger LPF's success fee," Chapman said.

2014年首次提出索賠時，新西蘭獼猴桃種植者公司（NZKGI）當時的首席執(zhí)行官邁克·查普曼（Mike Chapman）說，如果索賠成功，種植者將得到扣除所有法律費用和20%至25%的成功費后剩下的錢——“索賠越大，LPF的成功費越高，”查普曼說。

▲sungold g3 Kiwifruit packaging

Plaintiffs were represented by a committee consisting of John Cameron, Bob Burt and Grant Eynon. Representative plaintiffs are Strathboss Kiwifruit Ltd for growers and Seeka Kiwifruit Industries Ltd for post-harvest operators.

原告由約翰·卡梅倫、鮑勃·伯特和格蘭特·埃農(nóng)組成的委員會代表。代表原告是斯特拉斯波斯獼猴桃有限公司（針對種植者）和Seeka獼猴桃工業(yè)有限公司（適用于收獲后經(jīng)營者）。

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▲陽光金果G3獼猴桃