Biosecurity New Zealand
The Biosecurity New Zealand business unit works to prevent harmful organisms crossing New Zealand's borders. It manages border and compliance activities as well as preparing for, and responding to, any biosecurity incursions that may occur.
The business unit also manages MPI's centralised intelligence, planning, and coordination group. This was established to manage food, biosecurity, and animal welfare responses consistently and effectively.
It has been established to protect New Zealand from biosecurity incursions and pests. It will increase the visibility of some of the important biosecurity work we do at MPI, making the most of MPI’s scale and reach.
The biosecurity system protects New Zealand from imported pests and diseases that could harm the food and primary sector, New Zealand’s environment and biodiversity, and the health of New Zealanders.
Biosecurity New Zealand will help to do this by:
- protecting New Zealand’s borders from biosecurity and pest incursions, through its border clearance services that screen incoming passengers and imported goods
- providing diagnostic services and post-entry quarantine services to ensures goods are cleared before being allowed into New Zealand, and
- running biosecurity response and readiness activities that manage and eradicate pests and diseases that have reached New Zealand.
While Biosecurity New Zealand will not be the only part of MPI that works to protect biosecurity, it will lead main areas of the biosecurity management system and work with other areas of MPI to strengthen the whole system.
Policy and Trade
The Policy and Trade unit provides sector-level strategic thinking, policy advice and analysis, and oversees government-to-government relationships to maximise export opportunities.
The business unit incorporates market access functions and leads MPI's involvement in New Zealand's trade system. It focuses on sustainable economic growth, resource management, and main issues of interest to New Zealand's primary sectors.
Fisheries New Zealand
Fisheries New Zealand operates the country’s fisheries management system, which provides New Zealanders with sustainable access to wild fisheries for tangata whenua, recreational and commercial fishers. Fisheries New Zealand monitors the sustainability of fish stocks and sets limits on commercial catches that maintain the balance between commercial and other uses. It enforces those limits and the rules associated with the system. It works with other agencies on broader marine management initiatives, including the proposed marine protected areas (MPA) reform programme which is led by the Ministry for the Environment. In doing so, it seeks to balance competing economic, social, and cultural interests in those fisheries, and works closely with coastal communities.
New Zealand Food Safety
New Zealand Food Safety supports primary producers, exporters, importers, and consumers by implementing the full range of MPI's legislative and regulatory frameworks. This business unit maintains the core of MPI's regulatory functions. It ensures our regulatory settings and systems – for biosecurity, food safety, primary production, animal welfare, and fisheries management – have integrity and credibility. This work, in turn, gives our primary industries, consumers (local and international), and overseas regulators confidence and trust in New Zealand and its products.
The business unit also ensures that all parts of our regulatory systems are working through its audit, assurance, and monitoring functions, working closely with Biosecurity New Zealand.
The food safety system encompasses all food and beverages for human consumption, pet foods, animal feed, and agricultural compounds and veterinary medicines. It includes all aspects of food supply chains, including production, import, processing, packaging, transporting, storage, sale, and export.
New Zealand provides good, healthy, and safe food to consumers, both domestically and internationally so it’s important to our economy that we maintain our trusted New Zealand food brand and reputation.
The business unit and other areas across MPI work together to ensure that consumers can trust that the food they eat is safe, suitable and accurately labelled. The Food Regulation, Assurance and Verification Services Directorates in particular hold responsibility for ensuring that food supply chains work to deliver our New Zealand Food Safety objectives:
- protecting consumers
- protecting New Zealand’s reputation
- growing New Zealand’s international trade of our food products.
Agriculture and Investment Services
The Agriculture and Investment Services business unit works to create a thriving and sustainable future for farmers, growers, primary industries, and rural communities, and care for the health and wellbeing of animals.
Agriculture and Investment Services funds food and fibre sector innovation, helps farmers and rural communities to plan for the future and recover from adverse events, helps Māori achieve their agribusiness aspirations, attracts workers to the primary sector, and supports economic development projects. It is also responsible for laws and systems that protect animal welfare and enable the safe trade of animals and animal products.
Te Uru Rākau
Te Uru Rākau is leading the Government’s renewed focus on forestry, by supporting the ongoing development, growth, and management of the forestry sector. Te Uru Rākau works with the forestry sector to promote and protect New Zealand’s forestry resources. It funds programmes which encourage innovation and supports forestry projects that improve land production or reduce erosion.
Through the Emissions Trading Scheme, National Environmental Standards for Plantation Forestry, and the administration of the Forest Act 1949, Te Uru Rākau provides a regulatory environment that supports a healthy environment, resilient communities, and a sustainable sector.
Te Uru Rākau supports the Government in its goal of planting One Billion Trees and creating one vision for all of New Zealand for forestry.
Public Affairs
Public Affairs brings together the functions that assist MPI’s director-general to meet the expectations of the general public, ministers and main industry stakeholders.
This unit includes our Communications, Engagement and Information, and the Government Services directorate. Government Services has oversight of the full interface between MPI and the Government, and incorporates the Ministerial Services and Official Information Act teams.
There is also a team of industry and sector relationship managers who focus on maintaining a consistent dialogue with the dairy, meat, horticulture, fisheries and forestry industries on challenges and opportunities in the primary sector.
