Kiwifruit industry in New Zealand level of infection by November 2011. Some of the attacks in the Bay of Plenty were by the virulent strain PSA-V. The disease is worldwide, with serious attacks in Italy and France also in 2011. In mid-2013 a China-based Zespri subsidiary was fined nearly $1M for under-declaring customs duties, and the Serious Fraud Office launched an investigation into Zespri itself in October 2013. Much of the breeding to refine the green kiwifruit and develop the gold Zespri was done by the Plant & Food Research Institute (formerly HortResearch) during the decades of 1970-1999. In 1990, the New Zealand Kiwifruit Marketing
Kiwifruit industry in New Zealand brand-name label "Zespri". The branding move is also intended to distinguish New Zealand kiwifruit from other fruit and prevent other companies from gaining benefit from the New Zealand Kiwifruit Marketing Board's (a subsidiary of Zespri) activities. Zespri International Ltd. is owned by 2,700 local growers through Zespri Group Ltd which was established in 2000. Zespri has the role of promoting and selling kiwifruit in overseas markets as well as establishing regulations on which kiwifruit can be sold in the export markets. Turners & Growers began to challenge Zespri’s export monopoly of New Zealand’s Kiwifruit industry in 2009 to gain the