Update – 6 October 2025
We've released a document that summarises the submissions we received on this consultation.
For individuals
Mā te takitahi
Proposed operational details for the forestry legal harvest assurance system
Closing date
Contact
Forestry and resource management operational policy team
Background information
The Forest (Legal Harvest Assurance) Amendment Act 2023 will introduce legal harvest assurance into law through the Forest Act 1949.
The purpose of legal harvest assurance is to:
- strengthen the international reputation of the forestry sector
- safeguard and enhance market access for the forestry sector
- reduce the risk of importing timber that is not legally harvested
- help reduce international trade in timber that is not legally harvested.
Legal harvest assurance focuses on the conduct of people trading in regulated timber and specified timber products. This ensures there is a person accountable for due diligence to minimise the risk of illegally harvested timber entering the supply chain. It does not provide assurance that any specific timber item or consignment has been legally harvested.
The consultation discussion document set out proposals for the operational detail to be made as regulations and notices. These proposals were built on the feedback we received on issues papers in 2024. The issues papers tested assumptions and sought views on the options we considered for these operational details.
For this consultation, we sought your views on proposals for the operational detail. Consultation ran from 28 November 2024 to 26 February 2025.
Consultation documents
Operational detail for the legal harvest assurance system – discussion document [PDF, 3 MB]
Related documents
Issues paper one: The legal harvest assurance framework [PDF, 4.4 MB]
Issues paper two: Implementing the legal harvest assurance framework [PDF, 5 MB]
What was proposed?
As a trading nation, New Zealand has made a commitment to combat trade in illegally harvested timber. Trading partners are also implementing systems to combat illegal harvesting and associated trade. Examples include the Lacey Act in the United States of America, the European Union Timber Regulation (EUTR) in the European Union, and the Illegal Logging Prohibition Act in Australia.
Illegal harvesting is considered a low risk in New Zealand. However, a growing number of markets are asking exporters, including New Zealand exporters, to demonstrate their timber and timber products have come from legally harvested sources. Some markets will only accept government assurance that timber has been legally harvested.
Without effective and efficient legal harvest assurance in place, New Zealand exporters may risk losing market access. This would cause significant economic impact for the forestry and wood processing sector and broader New Zealand economy.
New Zealand also has the opportunity to reduce the risk of illegally harvested timber being imported into New Zealand, or traded within New Zealand. This will provide consumers with increased confidence that they are not contributing to the trade in illegally harvested timber.
Find out more about the forestry legal harvest assurance system
Submissions are public information
Note that all, part, or a summary of your submission may be published on this website. Most often this happens when we issue a document that reviews the submissions received.
People can also ask for copies of submissions under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA). The OIA says we must make the content of submissions available unless we have good reason for withholding it. Those reasons are detailed in sections 6 and 9 of the OIA.
If you think there are grounds to withhold specific information from publication, make this clear in your submission or contact us. Reasons may include that it discloses commercially sensitive or personal information. However, any decision MPI makes to withhold details can be reviewed by the Ombudsman, who may direct us to release it.
