The Government's proposed response to Fonterra's capital restructure

Updates

The Dairy Industry Restructuring (Fonterra Capital Restructuring) Amendment Act 2022 came into force on 1 June 2023.

12 December 2022 – Bill passed

The Dairy Industry Restructuring (Fonterra Capital Restructuring) Amendment Bill has passed.

Dairy Industry Restructuring (Fonterra Capital Restructuring) Amendment Act – NZ Legislation

Final report of the Primary Production Committee – NZ Parliament

16 September 2022 – Bill introduced

The Dairy Industry Restructuring (Fonterra Capital Restructuring) Amendment Bill has been introduced.

Dairy Industry Restructuring (Fonterra Capital Restructuring) Amendment Bill – NZ Legislation
Cabinet paper approving the Amendment Bill for introduction [PDF, 758 KB]
Departmental Disclosure Statement [PDF, 795 KB]
The minute recording Cabinet’s decisions on introduction [PDF, 1.5 MB]
Aide memoire updating on consultation [PDF, 1.5 MB]
Briefing seeking decisions on regulatory design [PDF, 1.1 MB]

Next Steps

The bill will shortly be referred to the select committee. The select committee process will provide a further opportunity for the public to engage and share their views on the proposed regulatory changes.

14 July 2022 – Submissions released

This consultation started on 27 April and closed on 3 June 2022. Seventeen written submissions were received from 19 submitters. One oral submission was received.

Submissions

Arcadia Dairies Limited, 3 June 2022 [PDF, 216 KB]
Century Group Limited, 28 April 2022 [PDF, 982 KB]
Federated Farmers of New Zealand, 9 June 2022 [PDF, 937 KB]
Fonterra Co-operative Council, 3 June 2022 [PDF, 262 KB]
Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited, 3 June 2022 [PDF, 314 KB]
Handy Farm Ltd, 2 June 2022 [PDF, 107 KB]
Joint Submission from Synlait Milk Limited, Miraka Ltd and Westland Milk Products Limited, 3 June 2022 [PDF, 393 KB]
Maheno Farms Limited, 28 April 2022 [PDF, 1.3 MB]
Mr Guodong Yuan, 29 April 2022 [PDF, 470 KB]
Mr Jim Hedley, 2 June 2022 [PDF, 101 KB]
Ms Lynn Lissington, 20 May 2022 [PDF, 134 KB]
New Zealand Taxpayers' Union, 3 June 2022 [PDF, 932 KB]
Open Country Dairy Limited, 3 June 2022 [PDF, 3 MB]
Pye Group Limited, 1 June 2022 [PDF, 1.2 MB]
Subcommittee of the Fonterra Shareholders' Fund (unit Fund) Management Company Limited, 31 May 2022 [PDF, 581 KB]
Sustainability Council of New Zealand, 7 June 2022 [PDF, 214 KB]
The Royal Forest & Bird Protection Society of New Zealand Inc, 3 June 2022 [PDF, 194 KB]

We received one oral submission in addition to the published written submissions. It was from Māori collective: Te Arawa Primary Sector Inc.

Consultation background

On 9 December 2021, a majority of Fonterra shareholders voted in favour of the co-operative's capital restructure proposal.

On 27 April 2022, the Minister of Agriculture announced Cabinet policy decisions taken in response to Fonterra's proposed capital restructuring.

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) sought comments from interested parties on the regulatory measures proposed by Cabinet.

The purpose of this consultation was to inform the design and implementation of the regulatory measures proposed for the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act 2001 as outlined in the consultation document. We were not seeking comment on Fonterra's capital structure itself, or on whether the Government should consider a different approach or alternatives to those outlined.