Government Industry Agreement for Biosecurity Readiness and Response

In September 2009 the Government announced a range of measures to boost biosecurity readiness and strengthen partnerships with industry.

One of the key components of the package was the ability for primary industries and government to embark on joint decision-making and cost-sharing agreements for biosecurity preparedness and response activities – the Government Industry Agreement (GIA).

GIA will provide an opportunity for industry groups to identify the biosecurity risks of greatest concern to them, and to jointly invest with government to better manage those risks through readiness and response activities.

They will enable primary industries to have a better say in biosecurity readiness and response activities. Improved readiness by both government and industry will help ensure responses are faster and less costly.

GIA is not about government reducing its investment in biosecurity, rather it will help government to target its funding to those areas that industries signal are important by deciding to invest their own money. Within the agreement industries will choose for themselves what readiness activities they invest in and can limit contingent liability through implementing fiscal caps on expenditure during responses to new pests or diseases. Cost-sharing will be phased in gradually, and will apply only to readiness measures over the first three years of the agreement.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) has drafted the Deed of Agreement and is currently working with primary industry to finalise the detail.

If you would like further information please email gia@maf.govt.nz

Government Industry Agreement Model Design

The detailed design of the Government Industry Agreement has been worked through with industry stakeholders in a series of three design workshops. Feedback from these workshops has been reflected in the design papers below and in the draft Deed of Agreement.

Summaries of the GIA can be found in the documents below:

Further information on aspects of the model design can be found in the following papers, which reflect the latest policy at June 2011:

Changes made to the design papers

Introduction to the Deed and In Brief

These papers have been updated to reflect the changes to the implementation timeframe and also the minimum Government contribution to agreed readiness and response activities of 50%.

Baseline Commitments

This paper has been updated to reflect:

  • the legal wording in the Deed, for example, ‘Unwanted Organism’ replaces ‘priority risk’ and ‘risk organisms’;
  • the different cost sharing models for readiness (all costs in) and response (direct and additional costs only);
  • that surveillance programmes carried out to demonstrate pest or disease freedom for trade purposes are out of scope of GIA as they do not constitute readiness;
  • the MAF baseline commitment to maintain the Unwanted Organisms register has been included under MAF’s commitment to maintain generic processes, systems and registers; and
  • the Industry Biosecurity Plan should be prepared by industry within two years of signing the GIA and be updated every three years.

Governing and Administering

This paper has been updated to reflect the decision by the Minister for Biosecurity that the secretariat will be housed within MAF, and also to reflect secretariat roles and responsibilities that have emerged during the drafting of the Deed.

Cost Sharing

This paper has been updated to reflect the decision by the Minister for Biosecurity of the minimum Government contribution to agreed readiness and response activities of 50%.

Page last updated: 11 July 2011