Zespri Group has refused the blames that it had ''not acted in bad faith'' for other kiwifruit growers as well as distributors. Group also told the court that the legal controls on the kiwifruit exports has made the other growers to export.

David Goddard, Counsel for Zespri Group has said that the export regulations of the Company can be measured. He said that there are rules, which apply to particular fruits, therefore, leading to restriction in the cases of exports to North America, a few African countries and Europe.

Last year, Turners and Growers had filed action against Zespri and its supplementary unit Zespri international. The proceedings are filed to prompt the de-regulation of Kiwifruit exports.

The hearing in the case started on Tuesday at High Court at Auckland. The hearing will go on for four days. The hearing will also focus on the validity of export regulation. After the hearing, High Court will also decide, whether Zespri had indulged in the differences towards the other exporters.

The export regime for kiwifruit offers that export should be done in shared marketing efforts. On the other hand, Turners and Growers want to export their gold, sweet green and red kiwifruits without undergoing the comparison procedures. These comparison procedures include the evaluation and expected returns from competitor kiwifruit growers.

Before this, Kiwifruit New Zealand had refused the applications from Turners and growers, where it was seeking to export its 325,000 trays of kiwifruit to Mexico, Japan and United States.