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MAF Biosecurity may share baggage x-ray images with Australian airports, allowing luggage to be inspected while the passengers are airbound.
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry executive John Lyall says work is being done to determine if computer software can be upgraded to send high-quality x-ray data between the two countries.
Such a move would present the opportunity for a careful inspection of the images, rather than rushed viewing at the airport exits, and speed the flow of travellers through airports by avoiding the need for a second x-ray as they left.
Border control authorities could be electronically alerted to any suspect bags, leaving the bulk of travellers free to pass through.
Mr Lyall said airports around the world had to x-ray luggage before it was loaded.
That raised the possibility of sending the information on to destination countries such as New Zealand that had strict biosecurity arrangements and x-rayed the luggage again before it left the airport.
Australia and New Zealand were strict on such policies as they remained reasonably pristine due to the fact they were islands with no land borders to other countries.
In countries like Europe there was far less emphasis on biosecurity because foreign biological agents could cross borders by other means.
Mr Lyall, who has led the work in New Zealand, said it was early days but he was excited about the possibilities of sharing x-ray images, particularly with Australia, which was interested in the proposal.
At present the x-raying of luggage about to be put in plane holds was designed to spot hard or metallic objects such as bombs and would need modifying to pick up biosecurity threats such as food.
Mr Lyall said there had also been interest from other parts of the world to see if such systems could be useful in areas like drug-trafficking.
At a biosecurity conference in Auckland this week, Mr Lyall stressed any changes would have to be taken in small steps as biosecurity risks to New Zealand remained high.
MAF director-general Murray Sherwin also told the conference that pressures could come back at the border agency if standards slipped.
Problems could see an international airport "very sharply turn into a hermetically sealed barrier", which would not be good.
Air NZ's manager of infrastructure strategy, Eric Morgan, said the airline was keen on eventually seeing the transtasman routes as "quasi-domestic" within a common border.
"Travelling from Auckland to Sydney should be no worse than Auckland to Christchurch."
Stewart Milne, executive director of the Board of Airline Representatives, said airlines were keen on concepts like sharing x-ray images as it would be more efficient for travellers.
"We need proper biosecurity and are not looking at shortcuts but it seems daft to keep x-raying baggage when it already has been."
