Executive Summary
Surveillance of hazards to biosecurity is conducted to support and underpin New Zealand’s
biosecurity system. Surveillance evaluation is an integral part of the surveillance life cycle. It
provides a means to identify and correct problems – as well as to sustain and enhance existing
strengths of a surveillance system.
The Surveillance Evaluation Framework (SurF) presented here was developed to provide a
consistent generic framework within which the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI)
biosecurity surveillance portfolio, and all its components, can be assessed. It is a novel crosssectorial effort that aims to provide a common umbrella for surveillance evaluation in the
animal, plant, environment and marine sectors. SurF builds upon and adapts previous national
and international work conducted in the context of the evaluation of human and animal health
surveillance; hence it builds upon existing good practice in surveillance evaluation.
SurF supports the conduct of the following four distinct components of an evaluation project:
(i) Motivation for the evaluation, (ii) Scope of the evaluation, (iii) Evaluation design and
implementation, and (iv) Reporting and communication of evaluation outputs. Further, SurF
provides a visual output that allows for comparison of core performance between systems and
within individual systems over time.
Case studies, prepared by MPI subject matter experts, are included in the framework to guide
users in their assessment. The case studies were also used in the development of SurF in order
to assure practical utility and to confirm usability of SurF in all included sectors.
Although SurF was developed for internal use by MPI, it could be applied to any surveillance
system in New Zealand or elsewhere. It is anticipated that the structured approach and
information provided by SurF will not only be of benefit to MPI but also to other New
Zealand stakeholders.