Biosecurity Forums

The Biosecurity System Oversight Group acts as the secretariat for the four biosecurity forums:

  • Biosecurity Ministerial Advisory Committee
  • Chief Executives' Forum
  • Government Officials' Biosecurity Forum
  • Central/Regional Government Forum

The Biosecurity Ministerial Advisory Committee and the Central/Regional Government Forum meet quarterly; the Chief Executives' forum meets twice a year and the Government Officials' Biosecurity forum meets once or twice a year. One of Biosecurity System Oversight Group's roles is to provide secretariat services for these forums, this includes: arranging the meetings, co-coordinating papers and acting as a conduit for information between the forums.

In addition to these forums, Biosecurity New Zealand runs an annual Biosecurity Summit, which brings together people with an interest in biosecurity to provide an update on implementation of the Biosecurity Strategy for New Zealand 2003 (the Strategy). The participants include representatives from government departments, regional government, local government, research institutes, industry boards and pest management companies, to name a few.

Biosecurity Ministerial Advisory Committee (BMAC)

BMAC is an advisory committee that provides independent advice to the Minister for Biosecurity on the performance of the overall biosecurity system, and monitors the implementation of the Strategy. BMAC replaced the Biosecurity Council, as recommended by the Strategy.

BMAC consists of 13 committee members with expertise in key biosecurity areas, including production/economy; conservation/environment; health; Maori; regional councils; science and technology; tourism; transport; communications; and public interest.

Central/Regional Government Biosecurity Forum (BCR)

As providers of pest management services, regional councils are a critical component of the end-to-end management of biosecurity system. BCR is a means of involving regional councils in strategic direction setting, particularly as it relates to decisions at the boundaries of central and regional government responsibility. The forum fulfilled another of the expectations of the Strategy.

The aims of this forum are:

  • to improve coordination and collaboration across central and regional government biosecurity agencies
  • to provide support to the Director-General of Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) that enables effective end-to-end management of the biosecurity system.

View the BCR's terms of reference

Chief Executives Forum (CE’s Forum)

While MAF holds overall responsibility for the performance of the biosecurity system, the Ministry of Health and Department of Conservation continue to have key roles in biosecurity.

To reflect this the CE’s Forum was created to:

  • develop the strategic direction for biosecurity so as to ensure that biosecurity contributes optimally to all desired outcomes
  • monitor the performance of the biosecurity system
  • ensure clarity of roles, accountabilities and responsibilities
  • improve the performance of the overall biosecurity system.

View the CE's Forum terms of reference

Government Officials’ Biosecurity Forum (GOB)

Biosecurity initiatives and issues can have implications for a wide range sectors in New Zealand. In addition, non-biosecurity initiatives can have significant implications for New Zealand’s biosecurity. Consequently, it is important that government agencies keep each other informed about what they are doing and coordinate their activities. GOB was established to facilitate this.

GOB brings senior government officials together to discuss significant biosecurity initiatives and issues. The goal is to promote the sharing of information and to enhance cooperation between central government agencies on biosecurity issues, with the aim of maximising the benefits and minimising the risks of government interventions to promote biosecurity.

Page last updated: 3 February 2009